


Stupidly Written By: ByunBaek

by exoair85



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Baristas, Coffee Shops, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Romance, Writers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 00:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7913332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exoair85/pseuds/exoair85
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baekhyun was a writer with a passion, he lives inside the stories he writes. He doesn’t feel satisfied about his work if he didn’t feel the emotions he puts in the story in a personal level. This didn’t cause him problems since he’s really good with imagining, until one day he decided to write a novel about love story and let’s say that he can imagine being in an action adventure or living in a house full of ghosts but he fails terribly with love and anything related to it.<br/>With this problem in hand; he goes for a stupid solution, really stupid that will drain all the hidden feelings he has.<br/>Let’s say that he thought he could easily make himself fall in love, put himself in conflicts, and give himself happy ending and his book will be ready with all the emotions he will be able to feel along the way, as stupidly easy as it sounds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stupidly Written By: ByunBaek

“I like you.”  


He can’t believe his ears, in front of him stands his crush confessing that he likes him, this day can’t get any better. Baekhyun woke up with the intention to start the story he planned to write for his next book which feels great since he loves writing. He woke up every day with the intention to write, but that didn’t mean that today is any less special because just now, his crush confessed that he likes him!

Baekhyun was a writers who just graduated with literature degree, specialized in creative writing and an amazing talent in writing. His first work was his graduation project which was a short stories collection. He was really proud of himself because after three weeks of submitting it to his instructor, said instructor called him to inform him that he sent his work to a publishing house and the publishers agreed to publish his book, all they need is to sign a contract with him to start the publishing process. After he signed the contract along with an offer of a part time job as an editor which he gladly accept, he promised himself to send them a final draft of his next book in the next eight months. 

Four months later, he has a writer’s block, at first he claimed that he was busy with the editing and issuing of his very first book, but that excuses had expired when his book took its place in the local book stores. He was so happy that day, he went out with his friends and had the time of his life feeling that the world just opened its huge doors for him, but now he feels really useless. Every day he sits in front of his laptop in a nearby coffee house and stare at the blank page for hours. He hated this, he feels trapped and that leads him to his biggest fear which is not being able to pursuit his dream in becoming a well-known author.

However, this all will change because his crush just confessed to him. This is his chance, he can finally start the love story he thought of writing. He can use the feelings that are bubbling in his chest of looking at the face of his crush looking at him with eyes full of admiration and anticipation,… anticipation?! _Baekhyun pull yourself together, you can’t live inside your head while someone is waiting for your reply for their declaration of affection_ , Baekhyun scolded himself briefly before he clear his throat.

“Daehyun, I don’t know what to say.” Baekhyun replied nervously. To be honest, he never thought of Daehyun as his crush, yet the guy is a handsome gentleman and has a kind and caring behaviour all the time so it won’t be bad if Baekhyun started to have a crush on him, not to mention this will help him have the correct feelings to start writing his book, so it’s a win-win situation.

“I can wait, I-” Daehyun started to talk but couldn’t complete what he wanted to say before he was interrupted by a flustered Baekhyun who looked extra cute with his red face.

“NO, I don’t want you to wait! Uhm, Daehyun you are a dear friend to me but I never thought that you have feelings for me, you never showed me any signs that you might have the slightest interest in me, are you asking me out or just telling a friend that you like them, I-“

This time Daehyun who makes the interruption, “Before you continue with your cute rambling speech, allow me to explain myself. First, I liked you from the first time I saw you in the graduation ceremony, you looked so cute in your graduation hat and that pink hair you had at the time, too adorable for a graduation ceremony so I decided to introduce myself and befriend you because I know that I would hate myself if I lost the sight of you, although I was so nervous at the time but I was really lucky that you were kind enough to welcome me in your table with your friends for the whole night after the ceremony, you didn’t question my nervousness and creepiness, you kept smiling at me, you have a beautiful smile by the way, really pretty.” Baekhyun felt his face heat up again and the heat made a comeback to his face, _nice_. Daehyun continued, “Anyway, you made it really easy for us to get to know each other. Secondly, I guess that was why I hide my feelings to you, I didn’t want you to think of my as some stalker who stuck by your side from the moment he saw you, I tried to appear as friendly as possible until I couldn’t hold it anymore.”

To say that Baekhyun was shocked would be underestimating, he was beyond shocked. It’s true that he only met Daehyun on the day of their graduation ceremony with them being in different majors, him being a literature student and Daehyun being a microbiology student, so it was understandable that it’s nearly impossible for them to meet during their college years, but from what he remembers of the ceremony day, Daehyun appeared really cool and composed, he would never think that he went to their table just to talk to him.

Daehyun ignored Baekhyun’s shocked expression and continued “Thirdly, I really like you, after all I’ve said, I think it’s really obvious that I’m asking you out and I really hope that we could move to something more than friends who meet up occasionally.”

“Something like what?” Baekhyun asking shyly.

“A date. God, with you asking this cutely I would die if you refused.” Daehyun winked at Baekhyun’s blushing face.

When did Daehyun become this straight forwarded, Baekhyun can feel his face melting from the stareing Daehyun is giving him so he whispered his answer.

“Ok.”

“Ok.”

They separated with a date marked in their calendar and a grin painted in their faces.

….

 

After his sudden meet up with Daehyun, Baekhyun continued his way to _Coffee Strings_ , the coffee house he frequented on a daily basis since he started his graduation project. He fall in love with the place since the moment he steps his foot on it. The shop had a calming and cozy aura with perfect lighting and music with a bit of a bar feel to it judging by the unique design, so he made it his writing place. Also the people working there are nice and friendly and not to mention their wonderful coffee and shortcakes. Every day (except for Saturday night since it’s closed that day) he would arrive at 4 p.m. and sit on his usual table which was basically the counter in front of the coffee machines. 

While some people would go for a better location choices such as the comfortable seats that were located near the glass windows which provided a beautiful view of the cute stores surrounding the area, or even the sofas on the corner which provided quietness to clear his mind. Yet he liked to sit on the counter, he likes the smell of fresh coffee, the sound of coffee while it brewed, and the slight noises that came from inside the kitchen where the workers coming back and forth.

Also he gets to chat away with the main barista and the owner of the place, Chanyeol. From the first time he started frequenting _Coffee Strings_ , they got along really well, not two weeks have past and they moved from just a customer and worker to close friends who spend the majority of Baekhyun’s time in Coffee Stings bickering and joking around and basically Baekhyun blabbering about his ideas for his future novels and Chanyeol listening patiently while working on the other customers’ orders. There is also Jongdae and Hyerin, the waiters who were really friendly and easy to talk to, and last but not least, there was Yixing, the guy who plays the guitar at 7 p.m. he would sometimes hang out with Baekhyun by the counter before he starts his performance which made him a nice companion, especially during the peak days where Chanyeol would be too busy preparing coffee and the waiters would be moving right and left attending everyone. In short, Baekhyun and most of the workers build a strong relationship with each other which made it easier for him to make _Coffee Strings_ his second home. 

The moment he stepped inside _Coffee Strings_ ; deep voice greeted him strongly almost knocking him off of his fluffy thoughts.

“Well look who decided to finally arrive, and you look too happy! What’s wrong?”

“Hello to you too Chanyeol! _It’s_ a beautiful day, why won’t I be happy about it.” He answered him while walking his way toward his usual chair, Chanyeol trailing after him and going back to his station behind the counter in front of the coffee machines -aka Chanyeol station. When he fully take place and put his laptop bag on the table, he faced the barista again who resumed his work, which probably was Baekhyun’s vanilla latte.

“Wait why are you questioning my tardiness?! You talk like we are on high school!!”

“You always arrive at 4 p.m., you never change your timing unless you have some appointment, then you would be talking about it for a few days prior until it’s graved in our minds, so really this is the first time you arrive _one hour_ later than usual without any notifications prior.”

“So you mean that you keep a track of my schedule?! Ooooh my sweet Chanyeollie, you were waiting for me, you poor thing.” Baekhyun joked while he made a gesture in the air as if he was petting a puppy, not noticing Chanyeol’s ear turning into a dark pink.

“N-No! I keep track because I have an amazing memory, don’t blame me for being super smart, I know stupid people have troubles remembering every details.” Chanyeol replied back while actually ruffling Baekhyun’s brown hair.

“You know what, I’ve decided I’m just going to ignore you today.” Baekhyun said sassily, removing Chanyeol’s big hand from his hair and fixing it back to its decent state.

“Well then watch me ignore you and your coffee-dose.”

“Wait you can’t ignore me, I’m a customer, you’re a worker, _it’s_ your job not to ignore me.” He replied grinning. He started fetching his laptop off of its bag and turning it on.

“Sweetie, you can’t call yourself a customer if you’re coming every day for the past year and a half, you lost your customer privileges long time ago.” Chanyeol smirked at him while he prepared his vanilla latte regardless of their conversation.

“Still…” Baekhyun pouted at him in defeat because he needs Chanyeol’s vanilla latte more than any other day, for the first time he actually has something to write.

“Haha, your cute pout can’t get to me.” The mention of his cuteness remained him of Daehyun.

“Well~ my cute smile on the other hand just scored me a date.” He said smugly while opening the blank page on his laptop that’s been blank for too long, when he looked up, the image was frozen, Chanyeol was frozen, but he pulled himself out of it when he realised Baekhyun’s eyes on him.

“You are serious, wow I never thought this day would come, I honestly started to think of you as some lame fella who will end up spending the rest of his life married to his empty laptop and my amazing vanilla late.” He started laughing out loud at the pout that made its comeback to Baekhyun’s face.

“Hey! You have zero faith in me,” Baekhyun protested, “I can go out and date whenever I want. I am a people person you know.”

“I know sweetie I know, sorry I laughed at you, but really you can’t blame me, you are pretty lame.”

“Chanyeol!!!” he whines for him to stop.

Chanyeol chuckled at his cute reaction, “sorry again I won’t tease you anymore. Now tell me, who’s the lucky guy?”

Baekhyun started carefully "You remember my friend Daehyun? I told you about him before, I believe."

Chanyeol took a moment to roll the name in his head, "Hmm the one who works in a laboratory?"

"He's doing his internship there but yeah him."

"Yeah, what about him?"

"It’s him." Baekhyun didn’t know why he was nervous, he shouldn’t tho, he is just telling his friend about his future date.

"The one who asked you out? Really?! but you never mentioned that he likes you in this way."

"I know right, he totally surprised me, I never noticed to be honest." He answered with a bit of a shame in his voice remembering Daehyun words, he should've been more observant.

Chanyeol's voice pulled him out of his thoughts, "So he likes you and asked you out, and then you said yes?"

"Yup." Baekhyun answered.

"Why? I don't mean to be rude but you’ve never shown any interest in him when you talk about him and now you're saying that you were surprised and never noticed so why did you agree instantly, shouldn't you say you will think about it or something? I know if I were you I would say that."

Chanyeol was right, he should've said that he will think about it and try to think about Daehyun in a romantic way to test his feelings but he don't have time for that, he needs some sparks in his life, he spent too long in procrastinating his writing and hang out in _Coffee Strings_ doing nothing, he should put more thought into his writing block instead of chatting away with Chanyeol and the rest of the guys all the time while they do their job and being productive, not to mention, the income from his first work will not cover his bills or any other needs and even the part job he do will never be enough. When he thought about it this way, he felt really useless, that’s why he agreed as fast as he could. He knows it's unfair to Daehyun but right now, he needs anything that could boost his writing skills into action, and like he promised himself earlier, he can convince himself that he has a crush on Daehyun until the feelings are really there, as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures, and he's desperate to write.

"I can try liking him." He answered quietly hoping that the conversation will die here. He is so wrong though.

Chanyeol turned to Baekhyun completely now, crossing his arms when he replied, "Ok, I'm listening"

"listening to what?"

“To the 'brilliant' idea that floats in your little head at the moment, I know you enough to know that you never give vague answers unless you’re thinking about something really 'brilliant'" his emphasizing on the word brilliant means the absolute opposite.

"I will ignore that, coz I’m in a good mood and I’ll wait for my order, thank you very much." With that he busied himself with his laptop and tried to ignore Chanyeol glances at him amidst the coffee making, when he finished Baekhyun's vanilla latte and cut him a fresh piece of the strawberry shortcake from the display table, he presented them to Baekhyun silently, after a moment or so, when he made sure that Baekhyun was enjoying his food; he approached him again.

"Sweetie what is it? You are hiding something, tell me." Chanyeol’s calling him ‘sweetie’ had become a habit, first it was a way of teasing Baekhyun for liking only sweet foods and drinks, but now it lost its meaning, even the other workers stopped their jokes about the nickname. Yet, it still warms his heart knowing that his friend was pressing his question only because he cared, but, it was hard to tell him what’s in his mind, so he kept his indifference.

"I don't need to explain everything that comes out of my mind, I’m a writer, my job is to keep it in my mind and only get it out on papers."

Chanyeol kept his staring.

"What? don't you have a job to do, come on let us do our jobs."

"Aside from my job as a barista, my job as a friend is to know if my friend is thinking about something crazy, I know I’m not in a position to know everything that comes into your mind but if it included other people then yes I think I would like to know. Come on, you are being secretive, it doesn't suit you." Chanyeol almost begged him like some clingy friend stomping his foot acting like a kid throwing a tantrum which made Baekhyun laugh.

"If we are going to be talking about what suits who; this clinging does not suit you at all, you are too giant to act cute"

"And you are too cute to act mysterious, come on." Chanyeol insisted which made Baekhyun finds no way out so he sighed in defeat.

"Ok, ok, actually there is something I’ve been thinking about, you know how I used to say that I can easily plot stories about any subject aside from love stories."

Chanyeol nodded, "Yeah, you said you couldn't reach the real feel or something like that." 

"Yeah,” Baekhyun answered, “well, maybe if I were in a relationship I will have these feels in hand and it will facilitate the writing process for me, I will be in a relationship and I will be able to contact with my story depending on the rawness of the feelings that I will manage to have."

"You mean you're going to use this Daehyun guy as an experimentation؟" Chanyeol asked.

"NO! I will date him seriously I’m not going to use him, I told you I'll try to like him."

"So you using the both of you as an experimentation?" Chanyeol repeated the same question only because he wanted to make sure that Baekhyun knows exactly what he’s doing.

"Really why are you insisting in putting it this way?! I'm not experimenting I’m just trying myself with romance and at the same time have a private supplements for my story, it's a win-win I tell you."

"Ok so you tried," Baekhyun nodded, "and you failed to return his feelings? What happens? Dump him?"

"Yes," Baekhyun answered fast, “as mean as it may sound but yes I will not fool him."

"Good." Chanyeol commented quietly.

Baekhyun felt relieved that he shared his thoughts with someone so he laughed at Chanyeol’s parental tone who continued after some thinking "I’m not saying that I like your idea because honestly it's pretty stupid." when Baekhyun was about to protest Chanyeol hold his hand up "But, I will not tell you what to do because I trust you not to do something you might regret, right?" Chanyeol asked confirming.

"Of course I won't."

“Then good, we’re good.” With that Chanyeol left him to enjoy his Coffee and start writing for real this time, after knowing that he is aware of the situation he puts himself in and have complete control of what he’s doing.

It was a tuesday evening so the place was quite, Baekhyun focused on his laptop with Yixing’s soothing guitar as the background sound. After eight months, he finally has something to write, the plot is not finished yet but he will work on that later, for now he will write the beginning of the story, nothing much, just something to get him working his brain. At 7:00 p.m. he was done from a few pages so he decided to give himself a break, he moved his head from his laptop screen and was greeted by Hyerin’s baby face.

“Hey Baekhyun oppa,” She waved her hand at him and leaned on the table beside him “I wanted to greet you earlier but Chanyeol told me not to bother you.” She smiled brightly at him, she was waiting for Chanyeol to finish the cappuccino ordered by one of the customers.

Chanyeol interrupted from the back with _‘yah, I’m oppa to you also Rin-ah.’_ which the waiter ignored. It was amusing how they were treating Chanyeol as one of them and not their boss.

“Nah it’s ok,” Baekhyun answered, “how are you today?”

“Nothing much how about you? You seemed busy.” She eyed his opened laptop.

Chanyeol replied instead of him, “He’s finally writing the story he will be working on.” 

“Wah that’s great-” before she say anything more, Chanyeol interrupted her.

“And he has a date with some guy.” he said it facing the coffee machine while pouring the cappuccino.

Hyerin looked at the both of them as if she wanted to say something but chooses to keep it inside after when Chanyeol gave her a look when he handed her the cup of cappuccino.

She cleared her throat anyways and faced Baekhyun smiling at him, “That’s great too, good luck Baekhyun oppa, see you later.” with that she left. It was always like this with the waiters, Baekhyun used to have mini conversations with them, but with the way Hyerin reacted and the way she was staring at Chanyeol made him feel that something was off so he asked him.

“Chanyeol is Hyerin alright? Why was she shocked and looking at you like that.”

“She’s fine, she’s just weird, ignore her.” He shrugged as a reply not giving the topic a second thought and not noticing the way Chanyeol’s jaw hardening.

He updated Chanyeol with the process of his story and asked him about his opinion about some ideas, after that he talked again about Daehyun and the date which was set on next Saturday. They talked about other stuff as usual but then he decided to enjoy the last minutes of Yixing’s performance before he heads home.

…..

 

When he entered his apartment he noticed the feminine black boats in the entrance and he knew that Soojung was visiting his brother, Jongin, if it was not for the shoes, he would never guess that someone was already home - not to mention two. It was a wonder how the both of them had a relationship in the first place, they were both quiet most of the time, looking intimidating from the outside yet adorable babies from the inside, he never thought that two individual looking so much alike would build a strong relationship like theirs. It was almost frustrating how little does he know about love, he felt envious sometimes of his little brother for having the love of his life - Jongin’s word not his - at this young age, while there he was, still questioning about love and how do people fall in it. He hoped his relationship with Daehyun would work, or at least gave him the answers he needed.

He went to the living room and found jongin and Soojung watching some old classic movie, he swears these two are living in a black and white world of their own, beginning from their choice of clothing to the things they watch.

“I’m back.” He announced to the couple.

“Hey hyung.”

“Hey oppa.”

They answered him together as they were still focused on the screen. 

“What are you guys watching?” Asked them on his way to the kitchen that was connected to the living room.

“ _Sunset Blvd._ , come watch it with us.” Jongin answered making a space for his older brother. 

“It’s ok, I will go make some hot chocolate, would you like some.” Baekhyun continued while getting the cocoa powder.

“No I’m good.” Jongin replied.

“Soojung-ah?”

“No thank you, I have to leave now before our dorms curfew.” she started collecting her things preparing to leave, Jongin turned off the dvd player almost immediately, they were not commenting about the movies for him to need her presence but they were always like that so Baekhyun add this to the list of things connecting these two.

“Bye oppa, see you later,” Baekhyun waved at her from the kitchen “bye Jongin, see tomorrow.” She kissed her boyfriend goodbye and head to the door with him trailing after her.

When he came back and started to head to his bedroom, Baekhyun stopped him,  
“Jonginnie wait, I wanna ask you something.”

“Sure.” He sat in front of Baekhyun at the kitchen island.

“This is gonna sound really silly, but when did you decided to like Soojung?” Soojung was their neighbor's younger daughter, they knew her since they came from the States when she was 5 years old, yet her relationship with Jongin started when they were in high school, he never suspected before that they will end up together, they never showed any interest toward each other, they didn’t share any hoppies at the time, they never spend time together, and to top it all, they were acting like complete stranger at school and neutral neighbors at home, heck, he even interacted with Soojung and her big sister way more than Jongin. So he couldn’t blame himself for being curious as to what changed to make these two find love.

Jongin stared at him with face empty from any emotion -as usual- until he decided to reply, “It’s not something you decided to do it, it came eventually without plan.”

Great, now Jongin’s reply made him doubt himself more than ever, what if he really can’t return Daehyun feelings, what if his plan fails, what if Jongin was right and love need no plan, what will he do?

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” His little brother’s voice startled him from his thoughts, so he told his brother what happened except of course his hidden intention, it’s not that he’s doing something wrong, but explaining to Chanyeol his innocent intention was tiring enough. 

“Is this why you’re asking about Soojung? Coz you gave yourself a chance with this guy?”

“Yeah, Chanyeol made me think that it’s impossible to tell yourself who you love and then I saw you two and started to think about it again.”

Jongin chuckled a little bit at the mention of Chanyeol, “Well Chanyeol hyung’s opinion would be a little bit biased regarding himself so don’t make him affect you, if you think that there was a possibility for you with this Daehyun guy, go for it, that’s basically what love is all about. Put yourself in the spotlight and watch yourself fall or stay still, either way it’s okay, you didn’t take advantage of this guy, if that’s what’s bothering you, on the contrary you gave yourselves a chance.”

Even though Baekhyun is the older brother, he always liked to talk to his younger brother, he has been alway a wise cute little kid, he was not talking much but if he did, he will say what he has to say honestly and that what made Baekhyun a proud big brother. Sometimes, he wished he had Jongin’s honesty with himself, this would help him a lot in his writing, his way of rolling around the subject in hand gave him a lot of difficulty in writing, for any other subject. He could master his techniques in writing thrill stories where the exaggeration is almost welcome, but not in love stories, no matter how much he tried to build a love story he end up lacking all the emotions. It was safe to put the blame on lack of romance in his life instead of his writing talent, so he really hoped that whatever happens with Daehyun, will be a success. He kept thinking about Jongin’s words until he remembered something.

“Hey, what do you mean by Chanyeol being biased?”

“Nothing hyung, enjoy your drink.” with that he went to his bedroom with a non stoppable laughing, Baekhyun wanted to ask him more but knowing his brother he will reach nowhere so he brushed it off and continued drinking his hot chocolate and thinking about his book.

…..

He went out with Daehyun twice now, and so far so good, Daehyun took him at the first time to dinner then at the movies, and baekhyun was pleased with this cliche date, he wanted to feel all the cliche feelings as a first date. For the second date, they went shopping and Daehyun being the gentleman that he was, insisted in paying everything for Baekhyun which made him blush at the extreme care, after that they grab a quick lunch before they separated their ways, Daehyun to the hospital for his shift and Baekhyun to _Coffee Strings_.

The dates went really smooth and nice, yet no heart flattering, no staying up all night thinking about him, and more importantly, no signs of love, it was just like their previous meet ups when they were just friends,the only difference was when they used to be meeting coincidentally and spontaneously; now it was planned and marked as a date.

He went on dates during his college days, but those all were just fun and him fooling around just to ease the pressure of college life, he never needed to put his full heart in those dates at the time, but now was different, he promised himself that he will give Daehyun a chance, but now he reached nowhere. He entered _Coffee Strings_ and as usual deep voice greeted him after he waved at Jongdae and Hyerin and head to Chanyeol’s corner.

“Hey sweetie, how was your date?”

“Fine.” 

“Just fine, you are not going to bother me with all the details like the first date.” Chanyeol grimaced upon remembering the days following Baekhyun’s date and how he would never shut up about his future romance life. Now he was the absolute opposite.

“Just, promise you won't call me stupid.” Baekhyun started, as usual he saw no point in not updating Chanyeol with his inner worries.

“Can't promise that but go on tell me.”

Baekhyun sighed, “I still feel nothing towards Daehyun, I know these things needs time but I can’t see it, maybe I’m bad at seeing these kind of things but still, I need some assurance that our relationship is going somewhere.”

“How about Daehyun, is he happy with the progress?” Chanyeol asked, trying to know more about this Daehyun guy.

“I wouldn’t know, he seemed happy all the time, he thinks my shyness about everything is cute, if only he knew that I’m shy all the time because honestly there was no other emotions I can feel other than being shy and embarrassed.” He whispered the last word feeling ashamed of his lack of feelings, yet this can’t pass by his friend easily.

“Hey, look at me, there is nothing to be embarrassed about, you are not at fault for not falling in love it’s not you, it’s him.” Baekhyun left his head after hearing the defensive tone and Chanyeol realized what he said upon watching the blush creeping onto Baekhyun’s cheeks, he cleared his throat to rephrase what he said.

“I mean maybe you guys don’t match or maybe you need more time, you can’t possibly fall in love after two meetings only.”

“Look who’s talking?! boy you got it bad.” Jongdae’s annoying voice and loud laugh interrupted them.

“Jongdae go away.” Chanyeol said groaning innerly at his best friend's nonfiltered comment.

“Why! I want to hang out with Baekhyun too, he’s not exclusive to you, you know” he smiled smugly wiggling his eyebrows at him while throwing his arm at Baekhyun’s shoulder, Baekhyun who watched the exchange silently not bothering to get what they’re talking about, he wasn’t in the mood to join the fun. He just waited until the two finish their bickering and Jongdae’s coffee orders. When Chanyeol started preparing the new orders, Jongdae waited beside Baekhyun.

“So, how is it going?” He asked Baekhyun.

“Nothing,” he sighed, “I was just telling Chanyeol about my nonexistent love life and the possibility of me being unable to feel.” 

“Sweetie, come on don’t be such a drama queen,”

“Why? What’s wrong with your darling.” Jongdae asked his friend finding great pleasure upon seeing the giant's red ears.

“Jongdae I said quit it.” 

“No really, what’s wrong?”

This time the boy in question was able to join the conversation, “Well my dates are still uneventful, no feelings, no thrill, nothing, so I started to lose hope in me.”

“Wow that’s complex talk, better leave it to Yeol then.” Even after saying that, Jongdae stayed for a while until he needed to go back to serve the new costumers. 

Chanyeol went back to convincing Baekhyun that there was nothing wrong with him and he should have more faith in himself, Baekhyun rest his head on his folded hands on the table, turning his face on the side to look at Chanyeol, listening to every word he say without comprehending the meaning behind those words, just listening to the voice delivering them. He had always found his deep voice soothing in a way, calming him and assuring him that everything is alright, yet send shiver through his veins making him feel alive, he never thought about the effect this deep voice had on him that put him in a calming mood and exciting waves at the same time, he just liked it. 

“You didn’t bring your laptop with you, aren’t you gonna write today.” Chanyeol asked him after fall in a comfortable silence.

“Nah, I came straight from my date, no energy to think of writing but I will do some editing tho, the publisher house called me to inform me that there was a manuscript that needs editing before tomorrow morning so I’m just waiting for our messenger to deliver it to me here since it’s closer than my apartment.”

After quite sometime, a young cute guy with blond hair entered the coffee shop and looking around, as soon as Baekhyun spotted him, he started waving his hand.

“Sunyoul-ah, over here.” Said boy rushed to his side immediately with a large smile on his face.

“Baekhyun-ssi, sorry for being late, here is the manuscript.”

“It’s ok, thank you, now sit I’m gonna invite you to coffee.” 

At the moment Sunyoul sat, his stomach growled, he looked at his employer, embarrassed of his hanger.

Baekhyun smiled at him and turned to Hyerin who was just passing by them, “Hyerin, could you please bring the menu to my friend over here.”

“Sure.” Hyerin smiled back at the two and left to bring the menu.

Sunyoul started protest, “It’s ok Baekhyun-ssi, I promise, I will eat at home, really no need-”

“Shh, I told you I’m inviting you, don’t worry about the cost, this place serve only sandwiches, plus, I have a special discount, right?” He directed his quisition to Chanyeol while winking at him to play along.

“Of course, Baekhyun-ssi is an important customer.” he smiled reassuringly to Sunyoul.

“See, now feel free to order whatever you want.”

“Thank you, Baekhyun-ssi.” he smiled brightly at him then turned to Hyerin who brought him the menu to tell her his order.

When he finished eating his sandwiches, he left after thanking Baekhyun for the tenth time for the food. After witnessing the whole exchange, Chanyeol decided to ask Baekhyun about the boy.

“He’s working in the publishing house as a messenger,” Baekhyun started, “along with another two part time jobs to pay for his studies, his family are in the countryside and are barely able to feed his younger brothers so he don’t want them to worry, so I worry about him on behalf, he’s a really good kid and I feel sorry for him because he deserve the best yet being born in a poor family made him forget about his health in order to support himself, I try to help every once in awhile but it’s never enough.” 

“Ow, my sweet Baekhyun is really sweet and kind soul.” He cooed at Baekhyun which made him blush and turn his head down.

“Go away I’m just being a decent human being, you're being mean as usual.” 

“Jeez, calm down I’m just teasing you, relax.”

“It’s just bothering me.” He went back to his gloomy mood.

“What’s bothering you?” As usual, Chanyeol encouraging him to speak his mind.

“It’s just saddens me that he doesn't have the time to think about his dreams and goals and here I’m financially and socially stable, yet I can’t proceed my dreams probably, when I was in college I really thought that I’m super talented and special, but now, I’m beginning to question myself.”

Chanyeol stopped him immediately, “Hey hey, sweetie don’t say that, you are super talented, I mean come on, what are the chances that your graduation project got published.”

“I know I know, but I can’t help it, I’m stuck, I hate being stuck.” He knows he’s sounding like a kid with all his whines but he doesn't care, he knows Chanyeol will never judge him so no need to filter his word. Plus he always liked it when the taller was comforting him, he felt warm inside knowing that he has a friend who believed in him.

“You are not stuck sweetie, everything needs time, just wait and you will have all the inspiration you need to finish your book, trust me you will finish it.”

“Promise?” He hates himself for being such a baby but he really needed to feel better, he hated going back home while feeling down.

“Promise sweetie, promise, now shoo shoo, go home and have some rest, my shift is almost done and Jongin must be waiting for you.” 

“Hey you can’t kick me out, you go shoo shoo.” He suddenly realised something, “you know, when I think about it, I never been here outside your shifts, I don’t catch Jongdae and Hyerin sometimes but you, always there, this is silly.” He started laughing at the not so much funny fact.

“Well then this gives me more reasons to get you out during my supervision, besides it was already closing time, come on.”

“Wait I’m not your kid I don’t need your supervision, go I will stay.” He crossed his arms acting like a real kid just for fun.

Chanyeol chuckled quietly and head to the staff area to get his things, Baekhyun decided to wait for him and busied himself watching Jongdae and Hyerin bickering during wiping the tables and getting the commercial stands from outside preparing to close the shop, they always bicker and shout at each other but they help and defend each other all the time, he’s not sure if there was something between them but he likes how they work, there is no complications between them, they know each other very well and what works best for each other, that reminded him of Chanyeol, he takes good care of him all the time and he’s really grateful, just now when his mood was really down from his date and remembering Sunyoul’s situation, he managed to lift his mood up and put him in a cheerful mood.

Just then Chanyeol come out with his casual clothes, dark blue blazer with striped shirt, faded grey skinny jeans, with his usual white sneakers and a black backpack, he looked really handsome like this with his really long legs, Baekhyun noted, maybe because he used to see him in his work outfit, dark brown apron with _Coffee Strings_ logo on top of an off white t-shirt and black pants, so he let his eyes linger a little bit on his friend's body and before he could stop himself he blurted out his inner thought.

“Did you ever think of modeling?” 

This earned him a surprised laugh from the taller, “Why? You think I look super good like the models?” He asked wiggling his eyebrows at Baekhyun and imitating a runaway show walk yet fail terribly.

“Yeah, your long figure looks good in clothes.” Baekhyun answer between his laughs at the terrible show.

“Why, other tall people look better without clothes on!! Is that what you mean?!”

“Yup hehe, no silly I’m just saying, you could easily be a model.” 

“Well t-thank you.” the taller stutter, suddenly feeling shy from the complement.

...

“Your cute figure looks good in clothes too.” Chanyeol said suddenly after sometimes of being silent after he and baekhyun left the store and head to the bus stop, Baekhyun almost forgot what they were talking about so he needed a few seconds to get what does the taller trying to say, when he did looked down at what he was wearing, peach sweater and khaki shorts with brown loafer shoes. He looked pretty childish even to himself but he can’t help it, he likes cute outfits.

“Are you trying to say that I’m short?” He stand in front of Chanyeol lifting up his head and standing on the his tip of his toes trying to look as intimidating as possible yet he looked as adorable as human being can be to the other.

“I didn’t say it, you did, I said cute, C-U-T-E” he emphasized each letter by a pat on Baekhyun’s head. 

They continued their way joking around and faking fights and arguments as usual until everyone of them get to his stop.

…..

As soon as Baekhyun entered the apartment, loud laughs greeted him, that only means one thing, Luhan is coming over, his high school friend and best friend. He was a transferred student at the time and Baekhyun become his guide immediately, eventually they became best friends. After college, Luhan went back to Beijing, but he would still come to Seoul for work and would always stay with Baekhyun during the visit. He felt bad for being late, if he knew that his best friend was visiting them, he would’ve come home earlier, but his silly friend was always like that, comes unannounced and leaves at weird times, yet he can never be mad at him, no one can be mad at Luhan, he has this beautiful aura that attract everyone to his beautiful self and made them see only the good things in him which will make them try their best to make him happy. He removed his shoes and hurried inside to be greeted with Luhan’s beautiful face, they were sitting in the living room, Luhan, Jongin, and Soojung, the elder was talking about something that’s definitely interesting judging by the amused expressions on the young couple.

“Lulu, why didn’t you tell me you’re visiting.” Baekhyun went straight to his friend and strangled him in a bone crushing hug.

Luhan laughed at the generous greeting, “You know me Baekkie, I like to make happy surprises, you’re happy _and_ surprised now, right Baekkie?” He asked him with his beautiful eyes widening excitedly with his question.

“Of course I am! I missed you a lot Lulu!” He will never get how someone could look this young and innocent, yet handle a successful job as a translator at the korean embassy in beijing, dealing with serious politicians all the time. Suddenly he remembered some serious poker face that would usually tags along with his friend everywhere he goes, especially if he’s coming to Seoul.

“Lulu where is Sehun?!” As soon as he mentioned the name of his boyfriend, Luhan broke in a wide smile with his eyes shining more than usual if it was even possible.

“He’s angry at me.” He said it as if he just won the grand prize.

“Why are you happy then?” He couldn’t help but ask, he knows his friend is weird, but this is more than weird.

“Because he was super jealous that’s why he’s angry, you should’ve seen him, Baek, he was soooo cute, we were in an art museum event at the chinese embassy this morning and I was asked to escort the Korean actors throughout the event, and Sehun was there but you know him he would always stand at the corner with his poker face during these events, that’s until one of the actors asked to speak with me in private and he was really close to me trying to whisper something into my ear but he couldn’t because Sehunnie came out of nowhere and pulled me by my waist and kept on glaring at the actor and, and he said ‘I want to introduce myself, I’m Luhan’s boyfriend, nice to meet you sir but you're crossing the line with my boyfriend and I don’t like it, so kindly leave him alone’ then the actor left, you should’ve seen him, he was so cool” Luhan was on his daydream mood while he tells Baekhyun what happened.

“Apparently Luhan hyung didn’t realize the power he has on Sehun until now.” Jongin commented out of nowhere.

Soojung agreed with jongin, “Exactly, I mean Luhan oppa, don’t tell us that you just realise how much that smitten loser loves you.” Sehun is around the age of Jongin and Soojung, so they became friends with him since he was the boyfriend of Baekhyun’s best friend so they ought to see him all the time.

“I know he loves me a lot, but it was really nice watching him worked out and stressed for me, it made me feel special, I know I am special to him, but looking at him outside his comfort zone just for me made me realize how much I mean to him.”

“So you feel loved because he was jealous?” Baekhyun asked amused, he doesn't believe in jealousy being a sign of love but he might be wrong.

“Yup, I feel extremely loved, he was super jealous, Baekhyunnie, he was so upset that someone other than him dared to get this close to me, he felt possessive which made him really intimidating, it was so hot” Luhan went back on his daydreaming. 

They were in the middle of dinner after Soojung left to her campus and Jongin to study in his room, when Baekhyun brought the subject again, “Lulu, aren’t you going to call Sehun to make up? He must feels lonely now?” As much as he likes to have his best friend all to himself he knew that he was feeling lonely without his prince charming that’s why he was concerned.

“I know he is, but I won't call him, he will call me at the end, I’m sure, for now let him experience these intense feelings and let me enjoy these bubbling feelings of him being a jealous and possessive lover.” 

“I’m sure he will call you, no one can resist a beautiful lover like you my dear friend,” he pinches Luhan’s cheeks, really no one can not be affected by this beautiful face, “now if you excuse me, I need to work on a manuscript, I wish we could spend the night watching movies or something but this paper is due tomorrow morning, sorry Lulu.” he finished sadly, wanting to spend more time with his best friend.

“It’s ok Baekkie I’m tired already after all the drama, I will just sleep early, good luck on your paper.” He smiled at him before he left to brush his teeth and get ready to sleep, Baekhyun went to get the manuscript and bring it to the kitchen island to start working on it, not to disturb Luhan since he will be sleeping at his bedroom.

While he was trying to finish the paper, his mind was drowning in thoughts of uneventful date, poor unlucky college boy, jealousy, and long figures.

 

…

 

“So I was trying to take as many samples as I can before I run out of the hospital, all for a fake fire warning, if only I knew it was a fake alarm, I wouldn’t have made a fool out of myself, I mean, I stuffed my labcoat with different kinds of samples, I looked so stupid.” Daehyun started laughing at his own story and Baekhyun smiles fondly at him, they were on another date having a nice dinner. Daehyun was really kind and sweet, Baekhyun likes him a lot but still not in a romantic way, so he was still stressed again about his frozen emotions.

“Right, how’s your writing progress?” Daehyun asked after he finished from his story.

“Going well so far.” Baekhyun answered.

“What is it about, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“No it’s cool, actually I like to talk about what I’m writing, I’m not one of those writers who keeps everything as a secret, I can’t do that, I need others’ opinions sometimes.”

“Well then I am happy to help you if I can, and don’t worry I will still buy your book and ask you to sign it for me.” Daehyun winked at him reminding him of his first book when Daehyun showed up in front of his door first thing in the morning at the first day of releasing his book holding a copy of the book and demanding Baekhyun to sign it for him as the first one who bought it. How could he be so blind! Daehyun acted as a proud boyfriend at that day yet he failed to notice the other’s love for him.

“Tell you what, this time I will reserve a signed copy for you, you don’t need to buy it.”

“But I want to buy it.” Daehyun protested.

“You can buy it if you want but I will give you a signed copy anyway, it’s the least I can do.” he murmured the last part, feeling embarrassed by the younger’s extreme care, yet as usual, Daehyun saw it as a cute shy gesture.

“Aw you are so cute,” he pinched his cheek, “ok no problem, I can have two copies of my favorite author's book, tell me now what is the book about, you said you like to talk about what you’re writing yet you never mentioned anything to me, how come?”

“Oh, I talk about it with one of my friends.” Suddenly he didn’t want to mention Chanyeol’s name to him, he don’t know why tho, it’s not like he’s cheating on him or something like that.

“Who? The barista in the coffee shop you write in?” Daehyun was smarter and guessed right away, which surprised Baekhyun a little bit. 

“How did you know?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“You once mentioned that you hang out with him while he work if you couldn’t write.” Daehyun shrugged as if it’s not a big deal.

“Yeah it’s him, I bother him a lot with my writing, it’s a wonder they didn’t kick me out of their shop yet”

“No one can kick an adorable writer like you.” he pinched Baekhyun’s cheeks one more time making him blush from the contact, “Anyway, no need to ‘bother him’ anymore as you say, you can bother me anytime about your writing, I don’t mind, in fact I will be happy to help.” Daehyun smiled at him and they continued their dinner peacefully, Baekhyun explaining to him his plot and how he’s stuck now with some conflicts throughout the story, Daehyun assuring him that he will manage to overcome it and finish his book in no time. This didn’t make him feel assured, on contrast, it made him feel more stressed but he tried not to show to the happy guy in front of him.

They finished their dinner and walked home because the restaurant they were at was close to Baekhyun's apartment and Daehyun insisted that he walk him home then head to the bus stop, nothing differs from their past meetups except for the holding hands and the kiss Daehyun plants in Baekhyun’s cheek after each date, but this time the younger had something else in his mind when he stopped in front of Baekhyun door-looking nervous. He cleared his throat and met Baekhyun’s eyes.

“I had fun today.”

“Me too.” Baekhyun smiled at him.

“I was serious when I said I will buy your book.”

At this Baekhyun laughs, “I know you were, thank you again.”

“Uhm, I wanna do something tonight if you don’t mind.” Daehyun told him with a determined look in his eyes.

“Ok…” Baekhyun started to feel worried at the latter’s weird behaviour. 

Suddenly and out of nowhere, there were hands holding his face and a pair of lips on his own, much thicker than his own, Daehyun was kissing him, he was kissing him with his nice plump lips. He was kissing him but he was too shocked to move and Daehyun felt it and decided to end the one sided kiss but Baekhyun was quicker and hold the front of his shirt and kissed him back, he promised himself that he was going to give him a chance so the least he could do was not to disappoint the happy guy and kiss him back, he felt Daehyun smiling against his lips from the little aggressive act he just did and that made him feel that he did the right thing. 

Daehyun had a nice pair of lips and he tried to move his own with them to enjoy the kiss but he couldn’t, he couldn’t feel the butterflies in his stomach, he didn’t feel the fireworks in his mind, his heart was beating normally, he just felt that his thin lips were moving along with thicker ones, again no emotions but he didn’t want to overthink it in the middle of their first kiss, it was a sweet kiss, not too hard not too soft, just sweet and Daehyun enjoyed it a lot judging by the bashful smile he wears after they pulled away from the kiss.

“I wanted to do that from the first time I saw you, your lips are the most beautiful lips I have ever seen in my life.” Daehyun admitted shyly, his hand on the back of his neck and looking at his shoes.

“I hope you enjoyed today as much as I did” he said at last when he met Baekhyun’s eyes again after his embarrassing confession, with that he left after promising to see each other soon. 

….

He entered his quiet and dark apartment, Jongin was a sleep already. Luhan went back to China after he stayed a few days and of course made up with his boyfriend -just like he predicted, Sehun called first thing in the morning after their so called ‘fight’ and asked his permission to come see him, of course Luhan allowed him happily, and from the moment they saw each other they went back to their honeymoon mood. 

Baekhyun went straight to his bedroom without turning the lights and lied on his stomach on his bed. He tried to replay the kiss in his mind to test his feel, yet nothing, instead he felt bothered, bothered from what he didn’t know, he needed to talk to someone, he didn’t know what is he gonna say but he needed to talk to someone so badly, and before he can stop himself he picked up his phone and settled on a text since it was already late, he texted the first person that came to his mind.

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
Yo~  
_at 10:14 p.m._

Almost immediately his phone plinked from a new text.

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
??  
_at 10:14 p.m._

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
You can’t yo me back, what kind of a friend are you?!  
_at 10:15 p.m._

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
!!  
_at 10:15 p.m._

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
You can’t even answer me with words, really what kind of a friend are you?! Screw you!  
_at 10:16 p.m._

At that Baekhyun left to change into a t-shirt and a pair of a sweatpants and brushed his teeth preparing to sleep, when he came back to his bedroom, he found new five texts from the same person, he smiled at his unpredictable friend, count on Chanyeol to put him in a funny mood, he opened the texts and burst in laughs.

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
WTH  
_at 10:17 p.m._

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
WTF  
_at 10:18 p.m._

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
K, yo..  
_at 10:20 p.m._

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
*pokes you*  
_at 10:22 p.m._

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
*nudges you*  
_at 10:23 p.m._

Baekhyun make himself comfortable on his bed to reply playfully.

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
Ouch!  
_at 10:30 p.m._

As usual Chanyeol replied immediately.

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
*tickles you*  
_at 10:30 p.m._

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
LOL  
_at 10:31 p.m._

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
…..  
_at 10:31 p.m._

Apparently Chanyeol was not going to stop the silly interactions so he decided to speak his mind without any introductions.

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
Daehyun kissed me.  
_at 10:34 p.m._

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
On the lips.  
_at 10:34 p.m._

No answer.

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
And I kissed him back.  
_at 10:35 p.m._

No answer

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
Yet I didn’t feel anything, it was a sweet kiss yet I couldn’t feel anything, I’m starting to feel that I really feel nothing towards him but I don’t want to fail just yet, I will give myself more time.  
_at 10:39 p.m._

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
I know if I said that I’m afraid that I’m unable to feel you will stop me so I won’t say it and I will try harder, I want this to work, many people experience empty first kiss right, maybe I’m the same.  
_at 10:43 p.m._

It was like he was talking to himself but he knew that Chanyeol is reading his texts carefully, he didn’t need assurance this time, he just needed to know that his friend is there for him, as usual.

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
I won’t lose faith in me, I promise.  
_at 10:44 p.m._

At this Chanyeol replied.

From: Barisa Yeol  
Good.  
_at 10:45 p.m._

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
Thanks for listening, good night Chanyeol.  
_at 10:45 p.m._

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
G’Night.  
_at 10:46 p.m._

After few minutes, his phone blinked again from the same number.

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
Don’t force yourself.  
_at 10:54 p.m._

At that text he slept with a smile on his face.

…..

 

For the following days after his date-that ended with a kiss, Baekhyun resumed his routine, in the morning he would go to the publisher house to do his part-time job in editing then he would grab something to eat for lunch, go home take a nab or clean the house, then wash up and head to _Coffee Strings_ where he would start writing and hanging out with Chanyeol as usual, but he kept on thinking about the kiss and the part he stuck in with his story, he needed motivation to complete his storyline and he needed more feelings to his relationship with Daehyun. He realised that if he continued on waiting for everything to come to him, he will not get to anything, he was desperate and as he said before desperate times call for desperate measures.

After a week from their date, Daehyun called him asking for a new one and he agreed immediately, he decided on what will he do, he thought a lot about it and he was determined, he will test himself, he will not wait anymore, so with that in mind he head to _Coffee Strings_ instead of their date place. As usual deep voice greeted him as soon as he stepped inside, but this time it didn’t calm him like always, it made him more nervous, he knew Chanyeol will not like his plan, it was best if he went home instead but he’s weak like that, he needed someone to ease his stress, and he got used to write only in _Coffee Strings_ so he couldn’t do it at home.

“Hey sweetie, you look stressed, are in the middle of a breakpoint in your story and you are having a battle inside your mind.” He started laughing at his lame joke.

Baekhyun tried to laugh with him but appeared forced, “Yeah something like that.”

“Wow it must be a really stressful battle, here, sit down then and start writing, I’m almost done with your latte, sit sit.” He placed the cup of freshly made coffee and went to cut him a slice of the strawberry shortcake.

He tried to write, but nothing came out, he was still nervous and as weird as it may seem, he kept glancing at the barista and wondering what will he think of him if he knew what he did, he thinks that he didn’t do anything extremely wrong but he knows his friend and his high morals, he will not like what he did, but there was no backing down now, all he can do was wait.

After the stressful waiting, a blond boy entered the shop and went straight to Baekhyun with a huge smile on his face.

“Hello Baekhyun-ssi, I hope I didn’t make you late.” Sunyoul greeted him.

He smiled at the cute boy, “Not at all, I told you I’m staying here until they close.” At this comment, Chanyeol raised his eyebrow at Baekhyun but he was ignored.

Sunyoul spoke again, “Your boyfriend is really kind Baekhyun-ssi, he bought me dinner even when I refused, he insisted.”

Baekhyun tried to end the conversation as soon as it began, “Yeah, don’t worry about it, let me give you the papers so you can go home and sleep early, you have school tomorrow right?”

“Yeah I do-” Sunyoul couldn’t finish what he was saying from the Barista’s sudden interruption.

“Sunyoul, right? My name is Chanyeol, I’m a friend of Baekhyun, you can sit for a while, I will make some coffee for you, it’s on the house, so make yourself comfortable.”

“No, he has school, let the boy get some rest.” Baekhyun was panicking, he wanted to end this as soon as possible.

“It’s ok, I will leave.” Sunyoul tried again.

“No I insisted, and I will make it a decaf coffee if you are worrying about sleep.”

Sunyoul started to feel uncomfortable and tries to refuse again but Chanyeol started preparing his coffee anyway so he sat next to his employer who looked stressed.

“Baekhyun-ssi, are you ok? You look-” Again he was interrupted by this weird barista.

“So Sunyoul, you were with Baekhyun’s boyfriend, did Baekhyun- _ssi_ asked you to meet him?” he emphasised on the ‘ssi’ sarcastically, looking at the writer.

“Yeah, they were supposed to go on a date today, but Baekhyun-ssi was really busy so he asked me to accompany his boyfriend as an apology because Daehyun-ssi didn't know that he will not be able to meet him.”

“I see, and why didn’t he call him and cancel their plans?” Chanyeol directed his question to Sunyoul but his eyes were poring on Baekhyun which made him uncomfortable.

“I don’t like to cancel at the last minute, and Daehyun was already waiting at the restaurant, it’s a shame to ask him to go back home.” Baekhyun answered while acting busy looking at his laptop hoping to end it here.

“Of course it’s a shame, better ask someone else to accompany him, how thoughtful of you.” Chanyeol replied amused by Baekhyun’s logic.

Sunyoul join in this time, oblivious to the tension in the air, “Baekhyun-ssi is really kind and thoughtful person, I know it sounds weird but I respect Baekhyun-ssi a lot and I am sure that his boyfriend forgave him, or he won't buy me dinner.”

“Of course, enjoy you coffee.” Chanyeol smiled at the innocent boy and busied himself while Baekhyun and Sunyoul talked about something that happened at the publishing house. When Sunyoul finished his drink and thanked Chanyeol, Baekhyun started collecting his things, claiming that he will catch the bus with Sunyoul, but Chanyeol was not going to buy any of it.

“Baekhyun, wait I want to talk to you about something important.” He stopped him from leaving with the younger.

“You can tell me tomorrow, I will leave with Sunyoul for now, bye.” He said hurriedly.

“It can’t wait for tomorrow and it won’t take long, stay.”

“It’s ok Baekhyun-ssi, I can go by myself, see you tomorrow, bye Chanyeol-ssi and thank you for the coffee.” Sunyoul ran outside, avoiding whatever happening between the two older friends.

The both of them were quiet for a while, Baekhyun trying to avoid the other’s stare until he couldn’t take it anymore.

“I was supposed to go on a date with Daehyun but I called him at the last moment to tell him I can’t make it and that I will send our poor messenger who don’t have money to feed himself to our date because it’s a waste to lose the reservation of the restaurant. I know it’s stupid so go ahead and laugh at me.” Baekhyun take a deep breath after he said everything and went back to avoiding the tall barista.

“Why would you do that? What are your reasons? Don’t you dare tell me you were busy because the both of us know very well that you weren’t.” Chanyeol was relieved that the place was almost empty so no one will bother him with orders.

He waited for Baekhyun to answer but nothing, so he tried again, “Sweetie, speak up, you know I will not stop until I get why you did what you did?”

“Because there was nothing else! I had nothing, my writing was stuck, my emotions were stuck, I tried to look for any kind of solution then I remember something Luhan said a few days ago and it gave me the idea to do what I did.”

“What did your fairy friend say?” Chanyeol asked unimpressed.

“He is not a fairy, he’s as real as me and you, anyway, he said that jealousy is good for the relationship, his boyfriend got jealous and he was very happy saying that he felt loved, so I tried to test myself and sent Sunyoul to see if I will get jealous of him if Daehyun spent time with him or not, plus I needed a negative emotions for my story, I know it’s stupid I know, damn it I know, I know it’s stupid to play with feelings, I know, but no one was hurt so please save your lectures and don’t look at me like that, damn it, you have nothing to do with this so save it.”

Surprisingly, Chanyeol didn’t say anything and let him collect his things and leave for real this time.

…

When he arrived home his phone plinked for a new text, when he opened it, he was as confused as upset as frustrated as he could ever be.

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
Send me Sunyoul’s number.  
_at 09:06 p.m._

He was too proud to ask Chanyeol why he wanted the boy’s number, he didn’t want to talk to him just yet, their earlier argument is more than enough, if he could count his solo explosion as an argument. He doesn’t even know why he exploded on him.

He sent him the number and threw his phone on the table and lied in his bed to reflect what happened, he didn’t get his reaction, he was supposed to be boiling in jealousy right now, imagining Daehyun and Sunyoul enjoying a meal together, feeling possessive towards his boyfriend, yet he can’t bring himself to think about that. He’s angry, blinded with anger, deep down he knows he did something really stupid, he knows, but he hated the look of disappointment Chanyeol gave him earlier, he regretted meeting Sunyoul there, he should’ve asked him to meet him at home, away from Chanyeol’s judging eyes.

….

 

For the following days, Baekhyun avoided going back to _Coffee Strings_ , he didn’t want to see Chanyeol just yet, he felt ashamed, and he knew if he met him, he will remember what he did and they will talk about it again. Yet what bothered him the most is the fact that Chanyeol never contacted him for the past days, as if his absence did not matter, that made him feel more depressed than he already was, coz really, the guy used to notice his absence or tardiness even if it’s for a few minutes, so why it didn’t matter now. Unless what happened affected their friendship, as silly as it may sound, Baekhyun was afraid of losing his friend, part of him knew that he needed to apologize for shouting at Chanyeol, but another part of him was afraid that Chanyeol will not accept his apology and forget about him already, he knew it’s dumb but he can’t help it, his doubts are kicking hard with every day he avoid going back to _Coffee Strings_.

One day, Jongin asked him why he’s not going to the shop anymore, he lied and told him that he needed to focus really hard on his book so he was staying home until he finish the whole book, his brother didn’t buy his lame excuse but he didn’t push it also and left him to his writing, technically he didn’t lie, he did wrote a big part of his story in the past days, at least he’s getting something from this depression. He even used this very excuse with Daehyun, telling him that he can’t meet him currently for the sake of his writing, and as usual, Daehyun being the kind boyfriend he was, has assured him that it’s okey and wished him good luck on his writing.

He was doing editing work in the publisher house when Sunyoul entered the office holding cups of coffee for the team, wide smile on his cute face, usually the sight of the boy would make him smile warmly, but lately he’s reminded of what he did, reminding him that he need to apologize to his boyfriend, apologize to his friend, and even apologize to the innocent boy himself for using him, but being the coward that he was, he chose to ignore the messenger as will and act busy.

“Baekhyun-ssi, this is your coffee.” Sunyoul came to his table after he distributed coffee for the rest and placed his coffee in front of him, Baekhyun thanked the boy and grabbed the cup without tearing his eyes from the manuscript in front of him and took a sip but stopped immediately because this is not just any other coffee, this is vanilla latte, _Chanyeol’s_ vanilla latte, he took a look at the cup and _Coffee Strings_ logo was indeed there on the cup. His heart beat in a dangerous speed when he noticed the B that was written by Chanyeol on the the holder of the cup, he can recognise this B any place, Chanyeol once wrote his name and added puppy ears on top of the B in his name to tease him, now it’s not teasing, he’s not sure what it is, he thought that Chanyeol is disappointed in him and didn’t give a damn about him not coming to _Coffee Strings_ anymore, but this, he’s not sure how to feel about it, but his heart was still beating so fast it could jump out of his ribcage.

“Sunyoul-ah,” He called out for the boy who came running to him, “you got this coffee from my friend's coffee shop?” he tried to look as casual as possible while asking a useless question, considering the large logo on the cup.

“Oh, yes I told Chanyeol hyung that I need to get coffee for the whole team and he asked me if you were one of them, when I said yes he asked me to wait and gave me this cup of coffee for you, he also wrote B on the cover so I don’t mix it with the others, I didn’t know you don’t like the regular coffee, good thing he asked” he finished what he was saying with a big smile on his face, Baekhyun thanked him again and went back to his thoughts. 

After more avoiding, more sleepless nights, more working on his book, Baekhyun finally found the courage to visit _Coffee Strings_ again. He went on the usual time he used to go to, at 4 p.m. he was standing in front of the café, he did found courage to come, but not enough to step inside, his heart speed so fast that he was afraid the passer bys will hear it, he was never good at apologizing, he would always worry and feel extra nervous if he care a lot about the person he’s apologizing to, and he cared a lot for Chanyeol, it’s hard to admit it but in the past weeks, he realized how much he rely on his friend with everything, he became his secrets keeper, his consultant, his proof reader, and more importantly his closest friend, so apologizing to him seems like the hardest this Baekhyun will do, that’s why he stayed rooted in front of the café, that until Hyerin decided to go out to change the promotional ads.

“Baekhyun oppa, you're here, it’s been a long time, where have you been? We miss you a lot, why are standing outside? Come, come.” She said it all too fast for him to answer, she linked their arms together and pulled him inside with her, never giving him time to react or reply to her. Once they were inside, his eyes started to search for a certain barista, except he found another one in front of the coffee machine, another one he knew very well.

“Baekhyun-ssi.” Sunyoul greeted him with a surprised grin on his face, he was wearing the same apron Chanyeol wears, with _Coffee Strings_ logo.

“Where’s Chanyeol?” he couldn’t help but to ask.

“Oh, he’s at the back door reviewing our new supplies.” Hyerin answered him while still holding his arm, and without much resistance, she pulled him to his usual chair and sat beside him, there were not much customers so they direct their full attention to him with wide grins on their baby faced faces.

“Sunyoul, what are you doing here?” he chose to ask.

“Oh, I’ve been working as a part time job, actually I wanted to thank you properly and treat you to a coffee made by me as a thank you but I never got the chance because you didn’t came here since I started working and I was shy to bring it up at the publisher house, you seemed always busy so I didn’t want to bother you, wait hold on I will make that coffee now.” He finished his mini speech and started prepare his coffee.

“Wait, Sunyou-” Baekhyun wanted to ask him why he wanted to thank him and why was he working here but Sunyoul interrupted him excitedly.

“I know, Vanilla Latte, Chanyeol hyung taught me well.” 

“Chanyeol _hyung_ ” Baekhyun felt his heart twisting upon hearing the endearing tone on Sunyoul’s voice, he didn’t call him hyung before, always using formal speech with him, yet there he was calling Chanyeol, hyung, he was the one who introduced them to each other, he was supposed to be the one linking them together, but there he was feeling like a complete outsider, he listened to Hyerin while explaining to him how Sunyoul started working a part time job with them as a barista assistant helping Chanyeol out and learning from him, Sunyoul also mentioned to him that he quit his other part time jobs and focused on publisher house and _Coffee Strings_ since they have flexible schedules which helped him on focusing on his studies, this made him happy for the boy but he was still confused as to why Sunyoul was thanking him right now.

“Chanyeol hyung said that you recommended him to hire me,” Sunyoul finally told him, “I don’t know how will I pay you back for your continues help.” He bowed at him and presented the freshly made vanilla latte.

“Tell you what, if I liked your coffee we will be even.” He smiled at the boy and try to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere, but he couldn’t when his eyes were pinned on the staff door, waiting for his giant friend to appear. 

Finally, _finally_ , the back door opened and Chanyeol stipped out off it holding a bag of Coffee beans, he didn’t notice Baekhyun at the beginning but when Sunyoul ran to his side and took the bag from him, he moved to his station and his eyes set on his petite friend who was sitting in his regular chair in front of his work station, Baekhyun gave him an awkward smile and a small wave.

For the first time since he stepped inside _Coffee Strings_ , he felt happy that Hyerin was clinging on his arm from the moment she saw him and Sunyoul was too excited to tell him about all the things he learnt from the moment he started to work here because he couldn’t meet Chanyeol’s eyes, he was nervous about meeting him alone and afraid that he will not know what to say or how to apologize, so he was grateful for their two younger companions at the main time.

Soon enough, Hyerin got busy and Sunyoul left early since he has a class tomorrow morning, soon enough he was alone with Chanyeol, alone with his friend who never felt uncomfortable with, yet there he was freaking out.

“Stop thinking.” Chanyeol suddenly said and snapped him out of his mind.

He stopped thinking but he also stopped all his attempts to talk, after sometimes, Chanyeol sighed and ruffled his own hair disturbingly so Baekhyun decided to end this awkward situation between them and apologize already.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?!”

“For shouting at you and for never talking to you after that, I even stopped coming here.” He mumbled the last part while looking down.

“Is this why you took long time to come here, sweetie that’s stupid, I was never mad at you, I was a little upset, not gonna lie and I still think that what you did was plain stupid but I’m sure you know that already, so don’t worry I was never mad at you to the point of never talk to each other.”

“Then why didn’t you talk to me, you didn’t even notice my absence.” He didn’t know why he was blaming Chanyeol now on his own lack of communication but he was feeling depressed over the fact that his friend was not affected by the distant as much as he did.

“How do you know that I didn’t notice, of course I did but I was giving you the chance to come back and forget about what happened, now that you’re back and since I hate arguments, let’s forget about what happened, and to make it more clear, I will get mad of you if you despair again, got it, midget?” Chanyeol was smiling mischievously, assuring him that he was really happy to see him and didn’t forget about him.

“So you forgave me?” He finally asked.

“Of course I did.” Chanyeol nodded at him.

“And you noticed my absence?” Baekhyun asked childishly.

“Of course I did.” Chanyeol grinned at him.

“And you missed me?”

Chanyeol burst in laughs and Baekhyun followed him immediately feeling a huge weight lifted off of his chest, Chanyeol is not mad at him, he was still his friend, his dear friend.

.  
.  
.

“Of course I did, missed you.” Chanyeol still answered before he leave the café heading home, even after they went from topic to another, even after Baekhyun promising him that he was going to apologize to Daehyun and Sunyoul for using them, he still answered.

 

…..

 

And just like that they went back to how they used to be, except they didn’t, ever since Baekhyun started frequenting _Coffee Strings_ again, nothing seemed like before, when he was used to talk to Chanyeol about everything, now he couldn’t because Sunyoul was there, all the time. And what bothered Baekhyun more is that Chanyeol seemed like he didn’t notice the difference, he even included Sunyoul in every little topic they talk about, not to mention the way Chanyeol was taking Care of the younger, always asking him about his studies and never scold him if he broke anything, which he did a lot. Baekhyun knew he’s being silly with him observation but he felt a fraction of possessiveness toward his friend, he wanted him to gave him all the time he has, just like before, instead of spending his free time teaching Sunyoul or asking him about his study.

He tried to brush these possessiveness feelings off and acted normally, but one day he exploded, he couldn’t hold it together and exploded. His day started badly from when he woke up to no water in their apartment, so he spent an hour with the plumber to see what’s wrong with their apartment because Jongin couldn't stay since he has an early exam so that made him late for the publishing house. There, he spilled his coffee on the manuscript he’s been working on so he had to start again with much more stress, after that he had a lunch date with Daehyun which turned out as plain as always where he force himself into any conversation the other is initiating, thus his frustration about their dating process or lack of process thereof. 

He went to _Coffee Strings_ seeking for the comfort he always get there, but he was greeted with the now two baristas laughing out loud at whatever they were talking about, this has been a daily sight for the last few days, so he should get used to it already, but today he decided to be selfish and demand for his friend’s attention, he felt that he needed the attention so he has all the right to get the comfort he needs at the moment.

“Don’t you have homework to do?” Instead of greeting he asked the startled student as soon as he sat on his usual chair.

“I-I have, but I wanted to help Chanyeol hyung for a little bit.” Sunyoul replied startled by the older’s unusual harsh tone.

“Of course you wanted to help your Chanyeol _hyung_ , if you have the time, why didn’t you came to the publishing house.” It was not that he needed him there, but the fact that the younger would choose to go to his café part job instead of anything else and spend more time with Chanyeol upset him beyond reason.

“It’s not like that Baekhyun-ssi, nobody told me that I was needed there.” He replied guiltily, thinking that Baekhyun and the rest of the team needed him there, that’s why the older was upset with him.

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol called for him wanting him to stop whatever he’s doing to the poor boy, but he made it worse by calling him by his name and not the regular nickname he used to call him with, regardless of the situation in hand.

“What? Did I interrupt your precious bonding time, should I go and do Sunyoullie’s homework instead of him?” he asked childishly.

“Baekhyun-ssi, I’m-” Sunyoul tried to ease the misunderstanding but the taller stopped him.

“Sunyoul-ah, why don’t you go home? I think Baek is a little tired, don’t mind him.” He smiled warmly to the confused boy who was not used to the older cold behaviour towards him.

“Ok, see you tomorrow then.” with that Sunyoul left as fast as he could and left the two friends alone.

“What was that?” The barista asked.

“What was what?” Baekhyun asked back stubbornly.

“Sweetie-” 

“Oh, wow, now I’m _sweetie_ again, wasn’t I Baekhyun just now, or now that your beloved dongseung left, you can be my friend again.”

The barista sighed loudly, thankful that there was no customers at the moment, he turned to Jongdae and motion to him that he’s taking a little break before he grabbed Baekhyun’s hand and pulled him to the back door, when he was sure they were out of any one to hear their argument, he faced the writer and answered him. “Are you listening to yourself? You are being childish, what’s wrong with you today, and what did Sunyoul do to you to yell at him like that?!”

“HE’S EVERYWHERE,” Baekhyun yelled back, frustrated by his own emotions, and scared that his friend is slipping away from him, he wanted to cry, “he’s everywhere, I’m used to him being around in the publishing house but not here, not here Chanyeol, I can’t talk to you freely anymore because you like to include him in all of our conversations.” 

“SO WHAT?’ Chanyeol yelled back, “So what if he was here all the time, so what if I included him in all of our conversations? So what?” Chanyeol fired back, surprising him by his sudden anger that was clearly showing on his large eyes.

“I can’t talk to you like before, Chanyeol, you are my closest friend and I can’t even talk to you about what worries me like before.” He whined at him hoping that he will get the barista to comfort him and assure him that he will always be there for him whenever he need him.

“You have a boyfriend, why don’t you talk to him about everything just like the rest of the lovers.” Whatever comfort he was seeking from the taller was not happening, instead he was shocked by mentioning his boyfriend, what does his boyfriend has to do with this, it’s not the same.

“It’s not the same.”

Chanyeol crossed his arms and stared at him. “Why? Did you think that I don’t have a life outside your bubble! I’m not exclusive to you sweetie, as much as you are not exclusive to me.”

He looked at his friend wide eyed, never did Chanyeol talk to him like that, he was always the most selfless friend out there and he didn’t want him to think that he think of him this lowly. “I know that, but I need you.” 

“Why?”

“Why do I need you?! Chanyeol, are we really okey? Are you still upset with me?” He asked him angrily.

“You know what, Yes I’m still upset, but not because you yelled at me that day and not because you disappear for weeks and also not because you used innocent people for the sake of your stupid book, I’m upset because you are selfish, you don’t think of others but yourself and your book, you don’t think of Sunyoul, you scared the poor kid without any valid reason, just because you had a bad day, you don’t think of Daehyun, your so called boyfriend who still until this moment doesn’t know that he’s being an experimental mouse just like the ones he has in his lap-”

“That’s not tru-” he wanted to defend himself but the angry tall man didn’t give him chance.

“No, don’t you dare disagree, you’re still playing with his feeling no matter what you convinced yourself with, what you’re doing with him is not a relationship, like what he think. Yes I’m upset, I’m so upset, to the point that I want to punch you in the face but I can’t because I’m your _good friend_ who suppose to help you with anything, be by your side, and listen to you whenever you needed him, and of course he’s not allowed to help other people or you will get mad and put the blame on the poor kid he was helping, is that what you want Baekhyun, do you want me to care about you only?” He asked him seriously and stared at him waiting for a replay.

Baekhyun being so shocked of his friend’s unusual anger started to stutter, “I, C-Chanyeol, that’s not what I meant, I don’t mean to be selfish and I know that I messed up with everyone and I will fix it with Daehyun, but I don’t want you to hate me, Chanyeol…” He didn’t know what to say because he was shocked and confused and scared.

“‘You didn’t mean it doesn’t make you less selfish, you don’t get it, do you? Why are you assuring me that you’ll fix your relationship with your boyfriend, what do you want from me, what gave you the right to get mad if I spent more time with Sunyoul, do you want me to spent all my time with you, do you want me to ask you about your book all the time, ok, how was your book? Are you still stuck with some point? Here’s an idea for you, why don’t you write about a stupid writer who doesn’t know what he’s doing and how he’s affecting the people around him by his ignorance especially his barista friend who’s also stupid for falling for this stupi-…..., you know what, just leave.” 

He said all of that so fast for Baekhyun to react, now he was not facing Baekhyun but that’s okay, he will not be able to hold it together if Chanyeol was looking at him right now, after he said what he said, instead he was looking at the a floor with pained expression and Baekhyun never saw him like this, he didn’t even comprehend what the barista said for his heart beating so fast it will jump out of his ribcage. He stayed frozen until the other couldn’t take it anymore.

“Baekhyun, leave, please.” And with that, Chanyeol dashed inside his café, not waiting for Baekhyun to respond which was unnecessary because he did what he was asked to do and left.

On his way home, he couldn’t help but think that the next time he will come to _Coffee Strings_ , everything will be different, his friend just yelled at him, yelled about harsh words and other confusing ones, but he couldn’t think of what was implied by what he said at the end because his heart was still beating in a scary speed because just now, his friend almost confessed to him, almost. 

…..

 

The first time he met Chanyeol, Baekhyun was looking for a place to use as an inspiration space for his project, when he saw _Coffee Strings_ , he decided to get inside and try it out, since it was near his apartment and not far away from the college campus so he thought it was the perfect location, so he got inside and choose to sit by the tables facing the glass wall to enjoy the view, there was a guy playing a soothing tone on his guitar, and the aroma inside the place was so refreshing and inspiring, so he started writing excitedly after he ordered a light dinner. He didn’t realise but he fell asleep after writing a satisfying number of pages, apparently the relaxing atmosphere and the effort he spent in writing knocked him out and slept.

When he first woke up, he felt the sudden terror you feel when you sleep on a public place and the irrational ideas you got on your state of waking up, _‘where the hell am I?’, ‘why nobody woke me up?’, ‘maybe I was kidnapped or robbed!’, ‘maybe no one noticed me and they locked this place and now I can’t get out and will probably die!’_ , He stand up immediately and started collecting his stuff while his eyes roamed the place trying to figure out where was he until his eyes landed on a guy sitting behind the counter and looking down at his phone with his earphones on, the said guy was wearing a black hoodie and snapback facing backwards, he has a nice face, from the angle he’s looking at, Baekhyun admitted, but that can’t prove to him that this guy is not a psycho who would lock on innocent people and watch them sleep. 

After he checked out for his possessions and made sure that nothing was missing, he started to approach the other guy who seemed that he didn’t hear him moving from the earphones he’s wearing and he wouldn’t notice his movement from where he’s sitting, but halfway through Baekhyun’s way, the guy left his eyes and looked at him, the two stayed still for a few seconds, staring at each other.

“You're awake.” The guy said with his surprisingly deep voice that was contradicting his baby face.

“Uhm, yeah, sorry, who are you?” Baekhyun asked worryingly.

The guy chuckled, “I’m the owner of the café you decided to crash in and sleep”

“I didn’t choose to sleep, why didn’t anyone wake me instead in leaving a customer asleep!” he replied defending his careless act.

The so called owner of the café stand up and Baekhyun felt intimidated by how tall the guy actually was, the tall guy faced him again and answered, “I tried to wake you up, believe me but you slapped my hand away and mumbled on your sleep, so I had no choice but to let you sleep for a while, oh and sorry I had to peek into your laptop to make sure that your homework is saved before I turn it off and remove it out of your sleeping head”

Baekhyun gasped in shock, this tall guy looked into his unpublished project as easy as that, “You looked at my story!! Who asked you to touch my things?!”

“Who asked you to sleep at my place?!” The tall guy challenged him.

 _Wait, what!_ , this went so out of control, Baekhyun thought, he didn’t know this guy in front of him and yet they were yelling at each other about weird things. The guy must’ve sensed his shock so he cleared his throat trying to go back to normal conversation.

“Listen here, I am sorry for touching your things but I really couldn’t wake you up and I genuinely felt bad for you, I know most students rarely sleep from the amount of homeworks so I let you sleep for a while, I swear my intentions were absolutely pure.” And to emphasize his point he lifted his hands as if prying guilty.

“Aren't you supposed to be a student too, are you really the owner of this place, you look young.” He asked suspiciously.

“College didn’t work out for me, I would rather own my own job. Aren't you supposed to apologize” He commented smirking at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun chuckled shyly to cover up his embarrassment before answering, “You’re right, I was the one at fault, I mean who sleeps freely in public except homeless people. Anyway, thank you for lending your table to sleep on hehe,” he take a quick look at his watch and found out that it was ten minutes to midnight, he didn't think he slept this much, no wonder he’s feeling more than awake, despite the pain in his neck. “well sorry to keep you late, I will leave now, thank you and sorry again.”

“Don't worry about it.” The guy brushed his apologize off as he started to collect his things as well to leave.

They shared an awkward farewell and left on their separate ways. When Baekhyun reached home, he decided to spend the night on netflix since he got more than enough sleep in the café, by the third episode of Peaky Blinders, he realized that he didn't pay for his dinner.

So on the next day, Baekhyun found himself entering _Coffee Strings_ for the second time looking for that tall guy who claimed to be the owner of the café, he found a friendly looking waiter and decided to ask him for help.

“Excuse me, I would like to see the owner of this place if possible”

The waiter wore a worried expression on his face, thinking that he’s asking for the owner to complain about something, before he say anything, said owner came rushing to them out of nowhere. Baekhyun looked at the tall guy on his formal uniform coming their way with big smile on his face, he looked a little different from last night, he looked brighter and taller-if that was even possible, he waved awkwardly at him when he stand right infront of him, both of them forgot about the waiter who realized he was not needed any more so he went back to serving tables.

“You came again, need a place to crash in” Tall guy said smirking with a teasing tone.

Baekhyun laughed shyly, remembering the reason why he’s here, “Actually, it turns out I didn’t pay for my dinner yesterday, also sorry again for _crashing_ in.” The owner brushed his apology off and guided him to one of the chairs by the counter before takes out his wallet to do what he came here to do on the first place, once he finally paid for his dinner, he excused himself to leave, but the owner stopped him immediately.

“Wait, why don’t you try our coffee before you leave, and don’t worry it’s on the house.” And he started to prepare the coffee without waiting for Baekhyun to reply.

“You know, you shouldn’t do that, in fact you shouldn’t trust a customers who sleep in your workplace and forget to pay.” He commented teasingly, surprisingly enough, he watched the owner's ears turning red from behind before he faced him with a cup of coffee.

“Well this is a risk I’m willing to take.”

“Then, I’m not one to reject a cup of coffee, thank you Mr. owner.”

“My name is Chanyeol.”

“Nice to meet you Chanyeol, Baekhyun.”

….

And from that day on, he kept on frequenting _Coffee Strings_ and never thinking about their first meeting, but now he was thinking about it all over again and the more he thought about it the more he gets more frustrated about everything, did Chanyeol liked him from the beginning, was Jongdae’s constant teasing mean something, he felt so dumb for not sensing anything, cause come on, who would welcome a customer who slept in and never paid, and to top it all, the smile Chanyeol had when he came the second time, it’s like he was glad that he saw him again. He didn’t know why he was still remembering such a thing, he doesn’t even believe in love at first sight, but what if it was just that, or less, what if Chanyeol had a crush on him all this time, he felt his head was going to explode from too much thinking, yet he couldn’t stop recalling and analyzing everything during his walk to home.

…..

 

He pushed his way to their apartment door, once he was inside, he was surprised by seeing Soojung studying on the living room and without Jongin for a change, she was so engaged with whatever she was writing on her laptop to pay him attention, he took off his shoes and put on his slippers before greeting her.

“Hey Soojung-ah.” Said girl turned to him, obviously not noticing him coming.

“Hi, sorry I got in without your permission but I told jongin already.”

“Where is he?” It was unusual to see her here without him.

“He’s out with some of his friends from the dance club.” She answered.

“What are you doing here then?” His question made her laugh.

“Studying, you see I have this essay that I really need to focus on, and I thought of finishing it here, you know, quieter than the dorms and having more privacy than the library.” She answered grinning at him.

“Smart girl.” He gave her a thumbs up before heading to the kitchen to get them something to drink, he got some apple juice for Soojung and a glass of milk for himself, hoping that it would save him from thinking and helping him to sleep and forget about everything.

Once he was in his room trying to sleep, he notice how stupid his idea was, first, it was only 8 in the evening, and second, he was starving, so he stepped out of his bed defeatedly and came back to the living room, he found the girl still working on her essay.

“Hey Soojung-ah, you didn’t eat yet, did you?”

“Hmm, not yet.” She answered not looking up from her laptop screen.

“Yah, stop or you will hurt your head, you need rest, come on I will make us some ramyeon.”

“I’m almost done, oppa, I will finish it once you are done from making that ramyeon, I promise.” 

When they were finally eating on the kitchen, Baekhyun was brought back to his thoughts about the girl in front of him and his brother, how could this young couple figure out something he failed terribly with. Soojung looked up at him as if sensing his eyes on her.

“What’s the matter, oppa?” Soojung asked.

He decided to ask her what he asked his brother before, hoping for more useful answer, “hey, Soojung-ah, this may seem a weird question but, what did you feel when Jonginnie confessed to you?” He asked her and tried to remained as subtle as he can in front of the girl, it was embarrassing enough to ask her something even teenagers don’t ask about, except Soojung was giving him a hard time with her staring at him with no expression on her face.

“Oh, forget I ask.” He said annoyingly.

“No, it’s ok, oppa, actually, Jongin told me about you asking him something similar before, is this for the novel you’re writing?” She finally replied to him and resumed back to finishing her dinner.

“Yeah, something like that.” He wasn’t lying at the girl per se, he did need more sources for his novel.

“Well I don’t know if I could help you with that, you see, Jongin never confessed to me, neither did I.” Soojung answered him shyly.

“What? How is this possible, then, umm who made the first move? Jeez, I’m the closest to you guys and I didn’t know about these stuff.” Soojung laughed at his exaggeration.

“Please don’t be sad, it’s really not your fault, since we weren’t really confident with our own feelings so we rarely express what we feel with words.”

“Ok, so how did it start? If you don’t mind me asking.” he started to get really curious about the dynamic of their relationship.

“No it’s really ok now, well you remember how I used to be more comfortable with you than with Jongin when we were kids?” Of course he remembered, she was one of those super shy kids who needed constant approach until they open up to you, he was familiar with those types of kids-with his own younger brother being one of them, so he succeeded on making their neighbor's little girl feel comfortable around him, he nodded mindlessly at her, encouraging her to continue with her story. “Yeah, do you also remember your seventeenth birthday?” He nodded again, he vaguely remember the fifteen years old girl at the time in a cute yellow dress with a headband of the same color. 

“Well,” Soojung continued, “that day change the way jongin and I treat each other in some way, you know we aren’t that close to each other, not in school nor at home, but then when you invited me to your birthday party, I’m sure you don’t remember this but like the kind oppa you always were; you promised me that I will have fun and told me to feel free to wear whatever I find comfortable, then Jongin had commented behind us and said, ‘oh, don’t worry about her hyung, she will wear black as usual’” she imitated him then sighed and looked down before she continued, “I don’t know why but his comment bothered me a lot that day, I didn’t even think that his opinion effected me like this but it did, deep down inside my head I didn’t want to be some boring and predictable girl in his eyes,” she then looked back at him again, “I just, didn't want him to see me as the stereotype emo teenage girl that I used to be,” 

“That's not what you used to be.” Baekhyun interrupted her.

“I know, I know, but from outsider's point of view, I was just that, and, and I didn't want him to be an outsider, I know it sounds silly now, considering our lack of communication back then, but I don’t know why I was so upset. So, Sooyeon unni noticed and took it upon herself to make a full makeover for me and for the first time, I didn’t protest anything she made me try until she settled on that bright yellow dress I wore, claiming that it showed my innocence.” She smiled at the memory before she continued, “So when we went to your birthday party I felt really shy from all the attention I got, however my eyes were trained on Jongin, I was waiting for him to react, say something, but he kept on staring at me until I shied away and tried to enjoy myself, although I felt his gaze throughout the party.”

“I honestly thought that you dressed up for your favorite oppa.” Baekhyun pouted at her playfully, in order to lighten up the mood a little bit, sure enough, Soojung started giggling at him.

“Sorry oppa~.” her apology was not serious, just like his protest, after that she continues with her story with a better mood. 

“After the night of your birthday, I found Jongin waiting for me in the morning in front of our house, we started walking to school without saying anything until we reached the school’s gates, but right before we turned to go opposite sides to our respective classrooms he told me that he will wait for me after school to go back home together, I smiled at him for the first time before I nodded and went to my class,” she laughed suddenly upon remembering the incident, “it was obvious then how much effort he spent to tell me those single words, not to mention that he didn’t look at my side since he saw me getting out of our home. At that moment, I realized that whatever relationship between us has changed, although it started with simple walking to and fro school together, it developed throughout the days without us noticing, because after sometimes, we started holding hands during our walks, and after another sometimes, we found ourselves going to ice cream dates after school and so on until we reach what we have now. And that oppa, how my relationship with your brother started.” With that she finished her speech with a noticeable blush on her cheeks upon talking about an intimate memories to him. 

...

 

He felt proud of his younger brother, the same brother who barely initiated any sort of contact with others, there he was going after the girl he liked even if he didn’t understand his feelings at the time, he was fascinated about the young couple and how did they manage to fight their shyness and timidness in order to take a step forward the other. Moreover, they were honest with their feelings, no matter how it was way out of their comfort zone, they didn’t choose to stay put, both of them took a step forward, even if it looked like nothing special, such as wearing a yellow dress and walking with the neighbor's daughter to school; for Jongin and Soojung he knew it was a huge effort and they deserved all the credits for.

His mind flew again to Chanyeol. How many steps did the barista took towards him without any results, how many signs have been throwing on his way without him noticing, he suddenly felt sick and betrayed by the barista’s feelings to him and his own ignorance. What will happen now, Are they even still friends. He wanted to cry from the frustration he’s feeling, especially after Soojung left to the dorms and he began on jumping into the most negative outlooks. He tried imagining his life without Chanyeol and he felt like crying one more time, he never realised the huge place the barista was possessing in his life.

After a few days from his encounter with Chanyeol, and after wasting all his days thinking about it and replaying everything that happened, he decided to put all his frustration on his novel and finish it already, since he did not have the courage to go and write in _Coffee Strings_ , and going to the publishing house will lead him to meet Sunyoul and remembering everything, so he took a temporary leave from the publishing house, reasoning it as a way for him to focus on his novel.

And that’s exactly what he did, he wrote, and wrote, until there was no room in his mind for anything else. He would wake up, prepare breakfast for him and Jongin, eat with him, then proceed to writing, he spent everyday the same way, wake up, eat, write, eat, write, and so on. However, when he went to sleep, he thought of Chanyeol, of what he meant and said to him, he couldn’t stop thinking, deep down, he felt miserable, and writing was the only thing that made him forget about all his negative thoughts, but when it was time to sleep, he would no longer have control on his mind and would flew again to his tall friend, not even sure if he was still his friend, or anything else on that matter.

He missed him, even more than when he avoided him the first time, he missed his coffee, his comforting words, his deep voice, and his presence in his life in general. As much as he missed him, he was afraid, afraid that he will not be able to meet him again, especially with the little self-esteem he had lately, Jongin once told him that what he’s doing was wrong, when he claimed that he hide from people to focus on his novel, he told him that he needed to fix whatever made him lost on his thoughts all the time when he’s not writing, but he assured his younger brother that he was fine and he was almost done with his novel, although Jongin didn’t seem convinced but he stopped asking.

His temporary isolation finally paid its price and he finished his novel, after a few days from sending it to his editor, his editor called him and asked him to meet him in the publishing house to discuss about it, so that what he did, he went there after the long leave, but when he was greeted by the cute face of their messenger, he remembered why he avoided going there in the first time. Regardless of their last ‘embarrassing’ encounter, Sunyoul seemed thrilled to see him after so long, as if Baekhyun didn’t yell at him out of the blue and disappeared afterwards.

“Baekhyun-ssi, long time no see, we missed you.” Sunyoul greeted him excitedly.

“Yeah, sorry about that, I really needed to focus on my novel.” He replied to him coyly, feeling ashamed of the younger’s kind approach. 

“Right, congratulation on finishing it, I’m sure it will be awesome.” The messenger answered him happily, so he decided to initiate his ‘apologize and be a better person’ operation as soon as possible since he was free from writing after so long, before he look for another excuse to hide from the face of the world.

“Hey, Sunyoul, can I talk to you later, say, after I finish with Junmyeon-ssi?” He asked the younger. 

Sunyoul tensed at the quisition, properly sensing the reason behind it then he smiled again and promised the older that he will wait for him. 

When he finished his long discussion with his editor and found Sunyoul waiting for him; he wanted to back out and run away to the comfort of his apartment but he knew that he needed to get this over with in order to sleep in peace at night.

“Hey, sorry to keep you waiting for long.” He called for the messenger’s attention.

“It’s ok, is the process of your book going alright?” 

This is not going as planned, not only him was avoiding their talk, but even the younger was doing the same, he cleared his throat and stared at the younger determinedly before he spill out his practiced apology.

“Sunyoul-ah, I am deeply sorry for shouting at you and use you in that ugly way, I was not treating you like how you truly deserved and I will understand if you didn’t forgive me, but please make sure that I didn’t mean anything I’ve said, you are an amazing kid, don’t let anyone doubt you, not even me, especially me.” He was looking at him while apologizing and he noticed the younger surprised expression at the sudden apology, when he finished, he waited nervously for the messenger to reply.

At last, Sunyoul smiled shyly at him and replied, “It’s ok, Baekhyun-ssi, you don’t have to apologize for me, I realised you were upset that day so I let it go long time ago, even Chanyeol hyung told me that.” At the mention of the barista, Baekhyun tensed, he was not ready to talk about the taller or think of him without looking like he was facing a civil war. Thankfully, Sunyoul continued, “And, I don’t think you ever used me.” He seemed a little bit confused and Baekhyun remembered that he didn’t make it clear yet, he inhaled before he confessed.

“I did actually, you remember when you went to meet my boyfriend?” The younger nodded while he tensed internally at voicing out the word he didn’t used for so long, choosing to deal with his long forgotten boyfriend later, he continued, “you see, I never was busy that day, I just wanted an excuse to not meet him, along with another reason I am too ashamed to say it you, I know it was a horrible thing to do and I’m sorry to get you into it.”

“Oh,” Sunyoul stayed silent for a while before he continued, “will in this case, I don’t think I am the one you need to apologize to, I am not offended at all, you’ve always treated me so kindly, I would never judge you over a couple of unfortunate incidents.” 

Baekhyun felt a part of the weight he hold on his shoulders was finally left away, this kid was a true angel with his smile that sent warmth to Baekhyun’s chest. 

“Thank you Sunyoul-ah, you’re really the best.” He ruffled the younger’s hair fondly.

“You are also the best Baekhyun-ssi.” He grinned back at the writer.

.  
.  
.

On the following days, he frequented the publishing house to work in the process of editing his book, he also went out with Jongin and some of his friends for a change, however, he continued avoiding Daehyun, they were communicating through messages but after quite sometimes, their messages decreased until they stopped completely, especially after Baekhyun sent him a message saying that he needed to focus on his book, and as usual Daehyun understand him and wished him good luck with a promise to meet once he finished with his writing. Yet he didn’t even told him that he finished writing and moved to editing the book, he knew that he needed to face his boyfriend sooner or later and set everything clear, their relationship was not working, no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t see Daehyun as more than a friend, and every day he felt more sure about his final resolution, now all he have to do was come clean to Daehyun and hopefully it will go well, although he highly doubt it, he had a feeling that he will lose Daehyun’s friendship forever, even if he didn’t have feelings for him, he still liked him as a friend and didn’t want to lose him, which was why he postponed facing him until he find the least painful break up he could come up with.

He avoided going to _Coffee Strings_ as well, no matter how much he tried, he would chicken out and busy himself with anything, Sunyoul asked a few times about it, why wasn’t he visiting any more, and when will he visit again, he would always say that he has a lot of things to do and he will visit when he have time.

Truth is, he was never busy for _Coffee Strings_ , he was simply a coward, too coward to face the guy who almost confessed to him, the guy who can’t get him out of his mind -no matter how many times he tried. He was a coward, and he didn’t know what to do to get over this cowardness, so for the time being he tried to convince himself that he needed to focus on his book publishing, then he will try to fix what can be fixed in his pathetic life.

The day came faster than he thought and his book was finally sent for the admin office for final approval, now all he have to do was to wait for it to finally have it between his hands. They had a mini celebration at the publishing house and everyone wished him good luck and great success for his book, he thanked them before he left home, it was raining and he didn’t take an umbrella with him, so he ran to the bus station and sat on the sheltered chair to wait for the bus to arrive, lost in thoughts, a cup of a coffee with a- _oh so familiar_ \- logo filled his line of sight, he looked up and he was faced with the last person he thought would meet him here.

“Don’t look at me like I will pour this hot coffee on you.” He shaked the cup a little bit to get the hint and pick it up. Instead, Baekhyun kept on staring at him with shock and frightening expression, he didn’t expect to meet Chanyeol here out of all the places, how did he even know that he will be here. The guy who possessed his thoughts, standing in front of him, in one hand a brown umbrella with _Coffee Strings_ logo, and on the other, the cup of coffee that he didn’t accept yet.

It was like he read Baekhyun’s mind, because Chanyeol placed the umbrella on the ground next to him before he sat next to him and rubbed the back of his neck with his now free hand and answered. “Sunyoul texted me that you finished your book revision, then he sent another text when I was on the way saying that you already left, I was going to go back but I saw your puppy hair from afar so..” and his voice was getting quieter than normal by saying the last part, he was not looking at Baekhyun while he was talking, he looked nervous and Baekhyun hated the fact that he might be the reason behind their awkward meeting, especially when he was still staring and didn’t say anything yet.

Chanyeol sighed and took Baekhyun’s hand, not minding about the shorter’s shock who yelped at the contact, said contact was immediately replaced with the warmth of the coffee cup. Chanyeol then took a long breath before he faced him and looked at him intensely.

“Listen, no need to avoid me, I avoided you back because Sunyoul told me that you were focusing on your book so I asked him to inform me once you finish from working on it. You know how embarrassing it was to ask him about ‘my friend’ like some stalker.” He chuckled while he moved his eyes from the writer and looked at the streets. The rain was still pouring heavily and it seemed that the bus will take forever to arrive. 

Baekhyun knew he looked dumb with him staring at the taller without saying anything, he should apologize, explain or even ask for an explanation but he stayed mum for a long time, looking at the guy beside him who was now looking at the ground with a troubled expression on his handsome face, he was really handsome, beautiful even, his eyes were big and shining, his ears sticking out, yet they looked cute and endearing, and his smile, his smile must be Baekhyun's favorite, had he appreciated it sooner, he never took the time to look at him, never tried to notice the little things he gave him, the countless smiles, how he used to gaze warmly at him whenever he was talking to him about his worries. As if sensing it, Chanyeol looked at him with yet another kind of gaze, a gaze he never saw on Chanyeol’s _handsome_ face. He looked troubled, but also unsure, Chanyeol was never unsure about anything and Baekhyun hated himself for being the cause of it.

Chanyeol sighed before he faced him and said, “I’m sorry, I said a lot of mean stuff to you that day and I didn’t have the right to say what I’ve said and judge you like that, if you avoided me because I hurted you then you have all the right to not forgive me. But if you are doubting yourself because of what I've said then please don't, you are way better than I ever give you credit for, way way better, so don't let someone like me belittle you. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself if I know that I hurt you in any way.”

He lowered his his head, feeling shy over Chanyeol’s intense look, “You didn't, actually you were right. I was being selfish and arrogant, you have all the right to get angry over how childish I reacted, in fact I should be the one to apologize.”

Suddenly there was a big hand ruffling his head and when he turned up, he saw the taller smiling at him, it was not his usual wide smile, but a small one, yet it sent a fluttering butterflies in Baekhyun’s stomach all the same. 

The barista removed his hand and faced him completely and replied, “Come on, forget about everything and come back to the café, forget about what happened and don’t mind about anything I’ve said,” then he turned back to the streets and lowered his head to the ground and started to kick an imaginary rocks before he continued, “don’t even mind what I almost blurted out.”

Baekhyun’s eyes popped out and he felt his cheeks blushing. 

“I know, I know you heard me clearly that day and realized what I was going to say.” The barista’s ears started to heat and turn into a deep red and Baekhyun didn’t believe that he didn’t notice this endearing sight before, although now that he thought about it, he’s sure that this look happened in front of him, many times, more than he’s proud to admit.

“I..” He wanted to apologize but he was afraid that he will offend the taller if he did, so he closed his mouth, not knowing how to handle the situation.

Chanyeol signed for what looked like the tenth time today before talking again.

“Look, my feelings are mine and I will take care of them, so please, don't feel pressured over my own feelings, I'm not expecting you to return or even acknowledge them so forget about them and let’s go back to how we used to be, this time I promise I will be the best friend in the world, you just be yourself.”

Baekhyun pouted and before he say anything, Chanyeol beat him to it and spoke again.

“There you are, be your pouty self.” and he grinned at Baekhyun as if he didn't just confess his feelings and took it upon himself to reject them at the same time, as if it's the easiest thing to do between friends.

“Chanyeol!” he whined at him. Frustrated about the whole situation. 

“Yes, your pouty and whiny self, come on, the bus is arriving.” Chanyeol said and stood up, took the forgotten umbrella and pulled Baekhyun along with him, he held the umbrella above their heads and the shorter felt himself blushing so hard, he hadn’t been too aware of the taller’s closeness before, but now it’s different, this was not his barista friend anymore, this was his barista friend who was in love with him, and if Baekhyun was honest with himself, he didn’t know how was he going to act as usual and as if nothing changed between them.

The bus arrived and they both walked towards it, when the bus doors opened, Baekhyun went up but when he turned around he found Chanyeol standing outside looking up at him with no signs of him getting in the bus with him.

“Aren’t you going to get in?” he asked.

“No, I will walk for a bit, the rain is lighter now and the café is pretty close, you go home, and do not tire your little head over me, I know I’m charming but come on.” He smirked trying to lighten up the mood and it worked, Baekhyun giggled at the comment, missing this playful side of the taller.

“What do you want me to do?” It was the stupidest thing to say at a situation like this, but apparently, the barista didn't find it weird if his wide smile is any indication. 

“Kiss me.”

His face must’ve formed the most comical reaction in the world, because Chanyeol has bursted in an unstoppable laughs at him until tears formed in his eyes, he wiped them off and calmed his laughs. “Sorry, sorry, I think it’s kinda soon to joke about it like that.”

“Too soon.” Baekhyun managed to comment, he felt his face heating up, it could explode.

“Yeah well, to answer your question, as I told you, be yourself and do not disappear on me anymore, let’s go back to how we used to be, and for God’s sake Baekhyun, come to _Coffee Strings_ , it’s not only me who misses you there.”

He was still worked up over Chanyeol’s bluntness, so he ended up nodding at him, not trusting his voice anymore.

“Good, see you then.” As if the bus driver was waiting for Chanyeol to finish talking, he started moving when the barista waved at him and turned to walk.

He didn’t try to look at Chanyeol’s back while it gets farther and farther, he decided to follow his friends wish and start to act as if nothing happened between them, friends do not stare at each other’s back when they separate, and if he wanted anything right now, it would be for their friendship to go back as it used to be, at least until he collect enough courage to address his scattered feelings towards the barista, so for the time being, he will try to visit _Coffee Strings_ again and he will fix everything.

…

For his comeback to _Coffee Strings_ , he decided to tag along with Sunyoul after they finished from their part time job at the publishing house. Everyone greeted him as happily as the last time, if not more, Chanyeol gave him a little smile and nodded at him before he continued his job, just like any other day.

On the outside, everything seemed to be like it used to be, Baekhyun being the regular customer and all the staff being friendly with him. But on the inside, Baekhyun was a mess, he was trying hard to act casual with Chanyeol, talk to him about everything without holding back, joke around with him but he was failing. He would flinch every time their hands would touch when the barista give him his regular latte, freeze every time he would ruffle his hair, and he would tense and stutter every time Chanyeol call him sweetie, he thought that no one noticed but he was wrong. 

Every once and awhile, Chanyeol would comment about it.

_‘Don’t push yourself, it’s just me.’_

_‘Relax sweetie I’m not gonna eat you.’_

_‘Seriously, it’s just me.’_

Baekhyun would always assure him that they are fine, and _‘of course, it's just you, you’re my friend, my dearest friend, nothing changed.’_ but the both of them knew it was a complete nonsense.

“I know it will be super uncomfortable to you, sweetie ‘judging by your new jumpy self’ but I need to ask you something.” Chanyeol asked him one day.

Baekhyun hummed, not trusting his voice after hearing his friend who’s _in love with him_ call him sweetie.

“What happened with the lab guy?”

Baekhyun choked on his coffee and Chanyeol pretended that he didn't see it.

After he calmed down he was able to answer, “We will break up.”

His answer seemed to surprise the barista for his eyes popped as he turned to him, he waited for more detailed so Baekhyun clear his throat before continuing.

“I realised that I went too far with using him, I couldn’t return his feeling and it’s unfair to him to keep going when I’m sure now that I will never return his feelings.” Now his feelings were a mess because of the guy in front of him but he didn’t need to know that, instead he told him about his plan of preparing the least painful break up on the world, Chanyeol made fun of him, but all in all, the awkward conversation went well.

After that, he decided to start with his plan, he thought of breaking up with him through a message, but he brushed the idea off almost immediately, Daehyun deserved better. He thought of asking him on a last date and take him to a fancy restaurant, then drop the break up in the middle of their date, but he found the idea lame and lack the sincerity.

Then, he received a call from his editor, and he found the perfect idea. 

He sent to Daehyun asking him to meet, which the later agreed immediately, with _‘can’t wait!’_ text, which made Baekhyun’s heart hurt from guilt, here his boyfriends is excited to meet him, not knowing that he will get dumped.

After a quick stop to the publishing house to pick up his ‘plan for a least possible break up’ he headed to the café they agreed to meet up in. he was glad that he arrived before Daehyun, it gave him time to prepare emotionally. He likes Daehyun a lot and he didn’t want to hurt, but it was already too late to wish for something like that, his only hope was to keep their friendship after that, but that was highly unlikely to happen.

After several minutes, he saw Daehyun coming from the other streat, when their eyes met, they waved at each other, Daehyun was grinning happily, so Baekhyun turned around and chose to wait for him to reach their table.

“Hey.” Daehyun greeted him with a big warm smile on his face and an opened arms. He stood up and return his greeting with a hug, yet his boyfriend was not gonna settle for just that, he leaned in to kiss him on the lips but he moved unconsciously and his boyfriend’s lips landed on his cheek, it was too much for a less painful break up, but he couldn’t trick Daehyun any longer.

The moved to sit on their respective chairs awkwardly. 

“Long time no see.” Baekhyun commented cheerfully, trying to lighten up the mood. 

“You were busy.” Daehyun on the other hand didn't want act cheerful after the cold interaction. 

“I know that and I'm sorry, but you see I brought you something, hopefully it would make up for my lack of contact.” He took out the final draft of his book from his laptop bag, the same one his editor called him for, telling him that it was approved and the printed copies will be out in the following weeks. When his editor called him, he decided to give the final draft of his book to Daehyun as part of his apology.

“It’s the final draft of my book, it has a special meaning to me, that's why I would like you to accept it, you are my favorite reader and I promised you to give you my signed book as soon as it's released, it's not released yet, but I can cheat, right?” he ended it with a sincere smile.

“No.” Daehyun was listening to him with a confused look on his face.

“It’s ok, I don’t need it, I want you to have it.” Baekhyun pushed the copy to Daehyun’s side, but the other was not talking about the book, he was staring at him with what looked like an angry look right now.

“No, stop what you are trying to do, it’s so obvious, so come on, say what you came here to say without these distraction attempts.” 

“I,” his boyfriend figured it out already but it was still hard, all the practiced apologies he prepared seemed to disappear from his head.

Daehyun sighed and moved his eyes from him, he was looking at the final draft with unexplainable expression, then he chuckled sarcastically.

“This is not working, from the beginning, it never did, how could I not see it.” He was talking to Baekhyun but he was still staring at the draft copy as if it was his greatest enemy,

“Dae, I’m sorry, I-” Daehyun interrupted whatever he was trying to say when he looked up at him.

“When did you felt like that?” He asked.

Not wanting to lie to him anymore, Baekhyun lowered his head, ashamed of the look of absolute hurt painted on Daehyun’s face.

“Ok, I can see it now, how could I not see it before, why did you agree on going out with me then, you could’ve rejected me, it would be easier for you?” Daehyun was still the kindest friend, he was not blaming him that he didn’t return his feeling, but he was asking him why he forced himself.

“I wanted to try out, I really thought we could be something, I know it sounds harsh, but I really wanted to try, but I couldn't see you as anything other than a dear friend. I’m sorry Daehyun, you deserve much more than this, you are a wonderful friend and you’ve been even the kindest boyfriend I could ask for, I don’t want to lose you as a friend but I respect whatever decision you will take regarding our relationship.” 

Daehyun looked sad, he was sad and Baekhyun was the cause of this sadness, part of him felt as if a huge weight was left off of his back, but another part felt like he was the harshest person in the world, he knew that he didn’t say everything and he should, but he didn’t want to hurt his soon to be ex-boyfriend anymore than he already done, so he waited for him to reply.

“I guess nothing I can say that could change or make up anything, since their is nothing from the beginning.”

“Dae, please-”

“No, let me,” he raised a hand in Baekhyun’s face, “don’t look at me like that, you make me look more pathetic, we are breaking up, both of us are agreeing to this. It’s mutual agreement.” Baekhyun was surprised to hear that, he didn’t imagine Daehyun’s reaction to be like that, he imagine him to get angry and hurt but not to agree like that. 

“You are ok with that?” He has to ask.

“No, but at least let me keep what little pride I still have and let’s agree that this is mutual break up.”

“Daehyun, I’m sorry.” Baekhyun heard his voice crack and his eyes started to water up, he hated himself for going too far in using this amazing friend.

Daehyun smiled at him, although it didn’t reach his eyes, or it did but the look of hurt on his eyes prevented any sign of smile, “It’s ok, what’s done is done,” and he stood up, “now excuse me, I will take my leave.” 

Baekhyun grabbed his hands without thinking, stopping him from leaving, “wait, we will see each other again?” it was like he was asking if they will still be friends or not.

Daehyun removed his hand gently then answered him, “I don’t, maybe in the future.” and with it he went out with the draft copy in hand which made Baekhyun feel a little bit better. He left Baekhyun, and the writer didn’t know for how long he stayed there - staring at the chair his now officially ex-boyfriend and probably ex-friend sat on - until he collected his things and went home.

….

“Hi hyung.” Jongin greeted him once he got home, he didn’t answer, instead he headed to his room, throw his things at the bed and went to take a shower, after that he wore a comfortable sweatshirt and pajama pants, he stepped out his room and found Jongin waiting for him.

“Hyung, what’s wrong? Are you ok?” His younger brother was obviously worried about him, he signed and went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, then he came back to sit with his brother in the living room.

“I broke up with Daehyun.”

Jongin looked at him surprised, but not because of the news but for something else, “You didn’t break up with him before?” 

Baekhyun looked at him confused, “No! I just broke up with him today, what made you think I broke up with him?” he asked curiously.

“Well you guys haven’t met lately as far as I know, and I remember you saying that you couldn’t return his feelings, so I just assumed that you guys broke up. Sorry hyung, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Baekhyun sighed, “No, it’s ok, you’re actually right, we should’ve break up long time ago, I went too far and hurted him more at the end.”

Jongin was confused and since he was still frustrated at himself, he found it a chance to tell his brother everything, he didn’t care if Jongin looked down to him after, he properly deserved it, plus he needed to let it all out off of his chest, he told him everything, even what happened with Chanyeol. At the end he felt exhausted and numb letting it all out.

“Hyung, I don’t mean to be cruel, but I’m kinda glad about what happened?”

“Thank you my caring brother.” Baekhyun deadpanned.

Jongin laughed at the reaction while correcting what he said, “No, wait, I didn’t mean it this way, I mean about Chanyeol hyung, I’m actually glad that he finally told you.”

Baekhyun stared at him, wide eyes from the shock.

“Not to make you feel bad, but it was really obvious that he had feelings for you, I didn’t see him as much as you did yet it was so clear, I mean, he practically treated me like royalty when I first introduced myself as your brother, I could tell that he had a huge crush on you and he wanted to score more points by spoiling your baby brother.” Jongin started making aegyo to him but he pretended to push him away to hide the fact that he was blushing deeply after what his brother said.

“I can’t believe it, I was the only one who didn’t see it, I’m the worst.” 

“No you're not, hyung” Jongin batted his shoulder as if he was the oldest one between them, “you're just a little bit dense.” he finished with giving Baekhyun the cutest smile. 

“You're not helping, Jongin-ah.” He whined, “I don't know what to do.”

“Have you thought of accepting Chanyeol hyung’s feelings?” Jongin asked, “he's a good man, hyung, I can tell he will be good to you.”

“I know he will, he _is_ good to me.” He answered, “I just don't want to hurt him, what if we didn't work out and I hurted him, and then we will be awkward around each other and, and I will have to stop seeing him, then we won't be friends anymore, Jongin, I can't do that to him, I can't lose him, especially after I avoided him all that time, I can't do that again.” he finished panting. 

“Hey, hyung calm down,” he stopped Baekhyun, surprised by the sudden rambling, “calm down, nothing like that will happen, so relax and try to think about it rationally.” he smiled at his older brother with a mischievous look in his eyes, “Hyung, you are saying that you don't want to hurt him,” Jongin started again,”don't you think that this is an answer it your confusion?” Baekhyun looked at him, feeling more confused than ever.

“I mean,” Jongin continued, “you didn't hesitant when you accepted Daehyun’s confession, you didn't say anything about hurting him, and I'm not implying that you didn't care about his feelings, but it is clear that you care so much more about Chanyeol hyung, I think you should start questioning just how much you are willing to care about him.”

…

After his talk with Jongin; Baekhyun started to think of a what to do to make this mess easier for him. He can't lie to himself anymore, it was obvious he was feeling things for the tall barista, yet he didn’t know how to figure out these feelings.

He decided to tell Chanyeol about his new status, and that’s exactly what he did as soon as he saw him the next day, instead of saying ‘hi’ he told him that broke up with Daehyun. At first it seemed that Chanyeol's reaction was just as any friend's reaction, he told him he was sorry and asked him if he was okay, and that was it. Baekhyun didn’t want to admit it, but he was disappointed, he didn’t know what to expect, he knew that the taller will not throw a party upon hearing that the guy he’s in love with is available again, of course he’s not that silly, but he was still looking for any kind of reaction, anything to help him clear his mind.

However, a few things changed by the following days, it was not clear at the beginning, but Chanyeol was more confident with his approaches, and the comments he was throwing every now and then. He was clearly flirting now, he would ruffle Baekhyun hair every day, he would let his hand linger every time he handed him his latte, he even tried to personally feed him once a piece of the strawberry shortcake he got for him.

“Thanks, I can eat it myself.” Baekhyun replied then, busying himself with stuffing the whole cake in his mouth to hide his blushing face.

Chanyeol chuckled lowly and muttered ‘cute’ before he moved to prepare coffee for customers, leaving Baekhyun alone to calm his speeding heartbeat.

 

One day there was a shortage of staff and the café was packed, when Baekhyun arrived, the taller pulled him to the staff area without any chance to react.

“You’re gonna help me serve those people today, Sunyoul has an exam.” he finally said, while he was looking for something in the lockers.

“But I’m one of those people, you should serve me.”

Suddenly, the barista was invading his personal space when he came up to him with a pocket apron, the same one the waiters of _Coffee Strings_ wear, he sneaked his hands around Baekhyun’s waist and started tying the apron for him. Baekhyun tried to stop him to do it himself but that only made the grip on Chanyeol’s hands stronger. Baekhyun’s face was turning deep red, but he noticed that the taller’s ears were way redder than his face, he bit his lower lip to stop cooing over the adorable giant in front of him.

When he thought all this time that he was the only one working out over every little interaction between them, he realised that Chanyeol was the same, if not harder, the fact that he didn’t know if the shorter feel anything for him or not made Baekhyun’s heartbeat speed too fast he was afraid Chanyeol might hear it.

Thankfully the barista moved away and started explaining to the writer what did he need him to do today. The rest of the day went well and Baekhyun’s heartbeats were finally back to normal.

His heartbeats didn’t speed up during these incidents alone, but when his book was finally released he went to _Coffee Strings_ with a few copies of his book signed by him for every one of the staff.

He was touched by the staff’s excitement over his book, Yixing made an announcement on his mic and sang a song for him, Jongdae and Hyerin took several selcas with him while showing off their copies of the book before sharing the pictures on their SNS proudly, and Sunyoul made him a huge cup of latte with a heart decorated the foam on top, at the end he couldn’t stop thanking and expressing his gratitude to all of them.

But before he went home, Chanyeol surprised him with a warm hug and a kiss on his forehead, while congratulating him on the book and promising him that he will read it as soon as possible. He wanted to return the hug, to tell him that even if he didn’t read it, he’s done so much for him, that his support all this time was what made him finish his book. Yet he couldn’t, instead he smiled shyly at him, bowed and left, hoping that one day he will be able to show his gratitude to him.

 

...

 

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
Finished your book.  
_at 07:20 a.m._

His heart sped up while reading the text, he was waiting for Chanyeol’s opinion from the moment he gave him the book a few days ago, he didn’t thought that he will hear from him in a random early morning.

 **To: Barista Yeol**  
How was it?  
_at 07:22 a.m._

Chanyeol’s text made him wake up completely, and now he was excited to know what did Chanyeol thought of his book.

 

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
Well, you could write _abcdefg_ and I would still think you are the best writer in the world.  
_at 07:22 a.m._

At that moment, Baekhyun thought that his heart will explode and he will die, if not from his exploding heart, then it will be from the heat he’s feeling, burning up his face. Before he could calm the crazy butterflies in his stomach, his phone vibrated for another text.

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
Although next time, don’t write about doctor characters, don’t write about guys in lab coats.  
_at 07:26 a.m._

It was too much, Chanyeol’s subtle jealousy over a fictional character was too much, the butterflies on in his stomach was too much. 

**To: Barista Yeol**  
Should I write about guys in an apron, making coffee.  
_at 07:28 a.m._

There texts used to have lots of teasing and playing around, but now that he thought about it, they were flirting, from the beginning, it was all a shameless flirting, from the beginning and until the last text he sent.

 **From: Barista Yeol**  
Nah, you already have me.  
_at 07:30 a.m._

 

It was all clear now, he had Chanyeol from the beginning, he was basically waiting for him. All he needed now was to make a move, he had feelings for his friend, it’s stupid to keep questioning his feelings when he’s thinking about the taller all day.

However, saying one thing is easier than doing it, he didn’t know what to do, he wished he had Luhan’s talent in making everything seem simpler, his friend would face the hardest problem and he would still smile beautifully as always.

So he decided to call his friend, he always gave him solutions for any conflict he faced, so there was no harm in seeking his help now, he picked up his phone to call him, his friend was in Beijing so he checked the time to count the time difference, it was still early in the morning, but knowing his friend, he would be fully awake by now for work.

“Yo, Baek.” his friend’s warm voice greeted him.

“Hey Lulu, how are you?”

“I’m good, how about you? what’s wrong?” Luhan asked alarmingly, not used to his friend calling him early in the morning.

“Oh, nothing is wrong, I just wanted to ask you about something, nothing much”

“Ask away.”

“What made you love Sehun?” he knew his question sounded stupid and insensitive but he knew his friend will get it.

He heard Luhan laughing at the question and that made him feel better.

“Well it’s hard not to love someone who look at me like how Sehun do,” he could tell his friend was blushing, “I would be a foul if I didn't see it.”

“I'm a fool.” He signed falling to his bed.

“Whoo, Baekkie is in love! Is he the guy from that café?” Luhan’s comment made him groan loudly.

“You also.” He felt completely idiot now, even his friend who didn’t even meet Chanyeol could already tell that he has feelings for him.

“Hehehehe, Baek you are so cute, but no matter how cute you are, ‘just a friend’ would never call you sweetie, and according to Jonginnie, this guy calls you sweetie as if it’s the most normal thing between ‘friends’” Luhan said teasingly with emphasizing the word ‘friends’, he felt himself blushing at the comment. 

“I don't know what to do.” He mumbled.

“You do, otherwise you wouldn't be calling me right now? You just need my ultimate moral support, which you already have.”

He felt touched over his friends kindness, even though they were not communicating a lot, he understood him and knew exactly what did he need to hear.

“You are the best Lu.” he finally said.

He heard his friend giggling, “Of course I'm, but come on, keep your sappy emotions for when you get your man, no go off.”

“I will.” He answered determinedly.

 

....

 

After ending his call with Luhan, he took a shower while practising what he will say when he see Chanyeol, he stepped out of the showers and wore the perfect outfit for him at this point. As simple as it looked, his clothes gave him an ounce of confidence, which he needed.

Now he was standing in front of _Coffee Strings_ ’s closed doors, he could’ve call Chanyeol and asked him to meet, but he prefer to stare at the closed doors while waiting for the barista to arrive.

He was wearing a bright yellow hoodie with a pair of light faded jeans, he also wore a yellow sneakers to match with the hoodie. He felt a little bit silly over copying a a fifteen years old girl, but he can’t do anything right now but wait.

It was still early when he heard the deep voice he grew to love.

“The sun is shining from your hoodie.” he turned around and saw Chanyeol beaming at him, in his hands bags of ingredients, he offered his help and took one of the bags while Chanyeol opened the door for them and they got inside, Chanyeol didn’t turn the lights just yet, so the sunlights were going through the window glasses lighting up the place.

“Why are you early?” he asked Chanyeol absentmindedly who answered him from inside the staff area.

“To load the storage, do want you some coffee?” he asked him loudly.

“Ok.” he answered just as loud, after that it was quiet, save for the faint sounds coming from inside where Chanyeol was moving things and shuffling, otherwise it was quiet and homey with no one at the cafe, Baekhyun walked around, looking at the place that he used to visit almost every day for the past couple of years, his eyes landed on the table he sat on when he first came here, he went to it and sat on the same chair he sat on the first time, then he laid his head to the table as well, he sighed loudly, the relaxing atmosphere embracing him so he closed his eyes for awhile.

He didn’t know how long he stayed like this, he must’ve drifted to a light sleep, because when he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a large eyes and Chanyeol’s smiling face.

“Need a place to crash in?”

Chanyeol smirked at him, he was sitting at the chair beside him and he was folding his arms on the table and letting his head lean on them - copying Baekhyun’s position, he was watching him lovingly, he was painfully beautiful, Baekhyun never got to admire the tall guy, his large eyes were shining, the mole on the top of his nose was clearer to see with the close approximately between them, his smile was pure, he was not having his usual wide smile, but the coy one, his single dimple was showing along with his cute smile, and Baekhyun was in love with him, so in love with him, _to hell with practised confession_ , he couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m in love with you.”

They both froze from the sudden confession, Baekhyun tried to calm his nerves, he came for this so he can’t back out now, he moved from his position and sat probably, Chanyeol did the same while still shocked, he then stood up and went to his counter - Baekhyun followed him immediately and stood by his usual seat, he started preparing their coffee, after he was done he brought the freshly made coffee in front of them, he stared at Baekhyun intensely.

“Why?” he asked.

“Do I need a reason?” Baekhyun asked back.

Chanyeol lowered his head, staring at his coffee instead before answering, “Yes, because I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed by my feelings, I told you they are my own and I will take care of them.” he looked back at him with what looked like an angry expression, “Don’t you dare force yourself.”

“I can’t,” Baekhyun replied, “I can’t keep lying to myself and pretend that I still see you as a friend when I can’t stop thinking about you, all day long, I can’t stay a coward and not to acknowledge my growing feelings to you when they are too much, too much I can’t handle them alone, and I can’t forget about your own feelings, I want them, I want your feelings so bad I can’t breath, I want your full attention, I want you.” he whispered the last part, feeling himself blushing badly from intense look the taller is giving him.

They had yet to open the lights of the cafe, so they were still depending on the sunlights, while he was lighting up with his bright hoodie, Chanyeol was wearing a white dress shirt with his sleeves rolling up to his elbows, he looked incredibly handsome, with the sunlights shining on him and with the way he was staring at Baekhyun, with unreadable expression.

When he saw that he was not gonna respond any time soon, he started again, “I was so jealous when I saw you with Sunyoul, I was selfish, yes, but that was because I was depending on your attention more than I should and I didn’t realised until later, it was already too late, I made you angry at me and I lost control over everything, especially my own feelings, I kept thinking about you all day, you owned my mind before my heart realise how much I fall for you, you were all what goes inside my mind. So, allow me to be selfish one more time, I love you, Chanyeol, I really do, and there is nothing in this world I want more than you and your love.”

He finished, panting, he didn’t notice that he was not breathing properly, Chanyeol was looking at him with wide eyes, and the endearing sight of his reddening ears was making an appearance, Baekhyun didn’t want to admit it, but that made him feel a little bit more confident.

“Baek,” Chanyeol started but Baekhyun beat him to it.

“What do you want me to do?” He must’ve sounded desperate and pathetic, but he didn’t care, Chanyeol deserved more than desperation and pathetic confession, he deserved more than love, he always did.

“Kiss me.”

However, this time it was not meant as a joke, there wasn't any hint of humor in Chanyeol’s gaze, there was determination and challenge. He was challenging Baekhyun to take over the last move, to settle the mess between them once and for all.

And that exactly what Baekhyun did, he moved from where he was standing and crossed the counter separated him, as soon as he was in front the later, they were in each other’s arms, both of them impatient and hungry for each other passion, Baekhyun throw his arms on the taller’s neck and kissed him square on the lips, Chanyeol responded immediately with sneaking his arms around the shorter’s waist. The kiss was rushed at first, like they were running out of time, but then they settle for a rhythm together, they moved with the kiss until Baekhyun felt his back hit the table, then Chanyeol lifted him to sit on the counter without breaking the kiss.

“I was hardly holding back from the moment you told me that you broke up with lab guy.” Baekhyun wanted to laugh at the jealousy tone in Chanyeol’s voice when avoided saying Daehyun name, but Chanyeol started kissing him again, tightening his hold on him possessively until they were chest to chest, with the shorter taking advantage of his current height, he pulled Chanyeol more to him, if it was even possible and took his lips again, trying to make up for all the missing time.

“You have no idea how much I wanted to do this.” Chanyeol mumbled to his lips, kissing him tenderly now, moving from a corner of his lips to the other, giving the mole above his lip a sweet kiss before he moved back to his mouth and taking his tongue out, licking Baekhyun lower lip and signalling for him to open his lips which the writer gladly did and they fell again on a heated kiss, with Chanyeol pushing his tongue in, exploring, both pouring all the repressed feelings they had all this time.

They pulled away from their make out session when they needed air but Chanyeol started peppering kisses to Baekhyun's face making him giggle happily, “You don’t realise the power you have on me.” he moved from his mouth to his cheeks kissing each side, “God, you’re so beautiful,” then move to his nose, “so cute.” lastly he kissed his forehead and moved to look at him while beaming happily.

“You’re not bad either,” Baekhyun replied playfully, “but Chanyeol, you had yet to say it you know.”

“Say what?” he asked him while smirking.

He get down from the counter and turned around to reach his now ice-cold coffee, “You know almost saying a thing doesn’t count as saying it, I will not let you get away with this, I’ve already said-”

“I love you _sweetie_.” Chanyeol interrupted him while sneaking his arms around his shoulders. Hugging from behind, it was the best feeling in the world.

He turned around to bless his eyes with the look of the wonderful man he fall in love with. 

“Say it again,” he whisperd.

“I love you more than I should sweetie.” he whispered back moving in for another kiss but the sounds of clicking interrupted them both.

When they turned around they found Jongdae with his phone on his hand snapping pictures of them. “Oh, no please carry on, I need more picture to show on your wedding.”

“Ugh, for the first time, I wished you would be late for work,” Chanyeol groaned while moving away from the blushing writer.

“Oh no, I’ve never been happy to come early for work before, besides, it’s not that early, soon enough customers will come, boss, and I don’t think they will appreciate this kind of PDA first thing in the morning.

“He’s right,” Baekhyun smiled bashfully, “I should go anyway.” he didn’t know why he was feeling shy all of a sudden.

“Wait for me tonight.” Chanyeol stopped him. “I will take you for a date. We will do it all right, so wait for me.” he smiled at him at the end.

Baekhyun figured they didn’t need to go on a dates or even doing it all right, he would come to _Coffee Strings_ everyday and watch the barista work and he would be completely satisfied since all he needed was Chanyeol and he already got that, so whatever goes under that category will be a pure bless.

.  
.  
.  
.

 

“Did you really fall for me from the first time you saw me, like what Jongdae’s claiming?”

“Oh please don't flatter yourself, I’m not _that_ smitten, you know.”

“....”

“I honestly didn't, I only liked your hair back then”

“My hair?”.

“Yeah, it looked so fluffy when you were sleeping on the table, I wanted to touch it so badly.”

“Did you?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Guess you will never know”


End file.
